Digimon: Divergeance Factor
by djb21212-Steeldramon21
Summary: In the wake of the battle with Armangemon, an old but unknown threat overshadows the Digital World. Taichi Kamiya must now be prepared to abandon his heart and face this new enemy, resigned to a fate none of the Digidestined asked for. UPDATED 3-12-2010.
1. Part 1

Digimon: Digital Monsters  
Divergeance Factor  
Written by: Steeldramon21 

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, as always.

Plot: Yes, Steeldramon21 has returned at long last to Digimon! I won't spoil the plot here but the couples, as usual, are Taiora with several others thrown in.

(Prologue)

It was never a problem pinpointing the very moment when it all went so horribly wrong. Standing here, at the foot of Infinity Mountain where their adventures began so long ago, pulled so many lost memories back from the pages of time. He longed for those simplistic days again, to lead the team as he once did instead of hiding here like a recluse. Yet for Taichi Kamiya, there was no other choice.

He had to bear both physical and psychological pain over they years. As the leader of the DigiDestined, he had no choice but to endure this silently, to bury it lest his team lose their faith in him. With Agumon by his side, the pain was dulled over time but never truly ceased. However, this time the pain was too much to bear in silence. He had to get away from them, from her, if only for a short while.

Taichi had met only a few women in his lifetime. Yet none of them could ever stir his soul like Sora Takenouchi. She was known throughout the Digital World as the Chosen Child of Love. She embodied the best traits of humanity, her gentle nature only enhanced by her natural beauty as a woman. She was an angel sent on wings of fiery amber, a copper-haired goddess sent to cleanse mankind of its hatred. Taichi had always considered her his closest friend, sharing a variety of different experiences with her as a child. Yet now, in his self-imposed exile, he wished to the heavens and Hell that he could banish her memory from his mind.

It never was clear in Taichi's mind when he realized how much he was in love with her. Yet it was a love denied several years before, the day that he and the older DigiDestined spent Christmas with their Digimon in the real world. He had planned to ask Sora to go to a concert with him that evening, not knowing that she had already had her ambitions set on something else. She looked almost ethereal that day, her hair cascading down her shoulders and shining with the light of the afternoon sun. In her hands was a carefully-wrapped gift box, a delicious smell lightly filling the winter air. Something in Taichi's mind told him to expect the worst. Nevertheless, he drew upon the strength of his long-forgotten Crest of Courage and prepared to ask the burning question:

"So Sora, are you going to the concert with anyone? Not that it matters. I was just wondering..."

"Acutally, I wanted to wait and see if Matt was free afterwards."

Taichi's eyes glanced to the ground as he reflected on those innocent-sounding words. He could remember the contented look on Sora's face when she began dating Yamato Ishida. The blond-haired Chosen Child of Friendship was his one-time rival and sole equal among the DigiDestined, sometimes preferring to do things solo rather than rely on his friends. Over the last few years, Yamato finally understood what his crest truly meant and aided the current DigiDestined whenever he could. He was a good friend, Taichi admitted. He had no reason to hate either him or Sora for loving each other. Yet neither of them knew the personal hell the one-time leader had cast himself into.

He glanced upward at the storm clouds approaching, smiling sadly to himself. The weather in the Digital World was merely another symptom of a new problem since the remaining portals were sealed by Azulongmon. After the incidents with MaloMyotismon and Armangemon, Taichi and the others were called to the Digital World once more by the Digital God. He told Taichi that someday a Digimon will come that WarGreymon will be needed to defeat. The power to digivolve to Mega, a gift that he recieved to battle BlackWarGreymon, would never leave him eventually but he still had a choice to make. For him to keep the power and battle the unknown evil would mean sacrificing any chance of a future with any of the DigiDestined women. Taichi glanced towards Sora and Matt as he weighted his odds, seeing them with a look of guilt as they separated their hands from each other. He would never deny his friends and teammates the happiness they deserved. That would be selfish, a trait he never wanted or even considered. The conclusion he reached was also the beginning of his personal banishment into the Digital World:

"I'll keep this power."

Taichi had changed since then, his attitude becoming brooding and more serious rather than his familiar mask of optimism. His pain was now a private one, something he couldn't even share with his baby sister, Hikari. She too was cast into a decision she had no choice in making, not to be with either one of the boys she cared for. Her crest of Light, the most powerful crest ever made, forced her to deny her feelings for both Takeru and Daisuke. Taichi wanted to comfort his sister, feeling her pain mirroring his own hellish torment, but denied himself even that. There was no time for personal lament, not when an unknown threat loomed closer and closer.

Agumon stood beside his partner, sensing that a powerful presense was coming. It felt familiar yet intangiable, as if he had faced it before but forgotten about it. He too had changed, preferring to remain at Taichi's side rather than be with the other Digimon. The orange dinosaur-like creature felt his partner's inner pain at times, part of it reflected within him as well, and also withdrew within himself.

"Tai, something's coming." Agumon said to his spikey-haired partner and friend. "Do you think it's what Azulongmon was so worried about?"

"Maybe." Taichi answered, also sensing a feeling of deja vu. Whatever it was, it seemed so familiar yet unreal at the same time. "We need to stay on our guard, Agumon, and be ready for anything." With that, he drew a pair of black-rimmed goggles out of his pocket, feeling the elastic press into his skin as it slipped onto his head. Taichi glanced once more to the darkening sky, smiling bitterly at his looming fate as he prepared to leave the mountain that held so many memories.


	2. Part 2

Part 1

Sora Takenouchi stared outside at the rain for the fourth time that day, her thoughts slowly drifting to times long since past. Her amber-colored eyes continued their mindless glance at the gray-colored clouds, a small twinge of emptiness beginning to fester in her heart. It had been raining five years ago as well on the same fateful day, the day that the Chosen Children's lives would be changed forever by a solemn warning. She had let her eyes drift downward as she reflected on the darkness surrounding the Odaiba Chosen, feeling a sense of guilt for not taking action when she could. She had seen the side effects of Azulongmon's words of warning on all of them, depression replacing the camaraderie that once existed among the tightly-knit group. For two of them especially, it had been the first nail in a coffin that was built years before. 

Hikari was one of the most powerful of the Chosen, her crest of Light driven by ethereal forces beyond explanation. There was a time that she was dubbed "the angel of Odaiba" by her peers and loved ones. Yet in the five years that came and went, she had become suffocated by Azulongmon's restrictions. She could never act on her feelings for Takeru or even lose herself in Daisuke, her powers of Light far too great a risk to allow it. Since then, she had allowed the shadows of her misery to consume her, to darken her weary heart. It was one of the few times Sora wished Taichi was there to console his sister.

Taichi...

Sora arose from her sitting position, letting her back arch as she stretched her arms upward. Taichi had vanished several days after Azulongmon had cautioned them, his attitude changed in a way she had never seen before. His chocolate-brown eyes, once filled with so much optimism and bravery, were dulled with a sense of loss as he took his elected responsibility. He had seemed so much older the last time they had seen him, as if he was driving himself towards the prophecy the Digital God told them...

(flashback)

"Tai, wait a second!" Sora had called to him as she noticed him heading to the school's computer lab. Neither she, Yamato, nor any of the older Chosen have seen much of their leader in several days. Hikari, his own sister, was worried sick since he refused to talk to her. The Child of Courage had cut himself off from his friends and Sora wanted to know why. She had to talk to him.

"What? What's wrong, Sora?" Taichi answered calmly as he turned towards her, seeing Sora's surprised look as she saw his face. His eyes, normally alive with his familiar sense of optimism, were now cold and hard as he looked at her. There was a time when he would've listened whole-heartedly to her problems. Those days were gone now thanks to his mission. He had to get to the Digital World while there was still time.

"For starters," Sora started as she came towards him, "you can tell me why you suddenly cut yourself off from everyone lately."

"I've been busy. That's all I can say."

"Don't give me that, Tai!" Sora told him, forcing their eyes to lock onto each other. "All of us have been worried sick about you, you know. You won't even talk to Kari anymore and she's your own sister." She placed a hand on his shoulder, her amber eyes remaining locked onto his brown ones. "We're your friends, Tai, and your were our leader once. What's going on?"

Taichi wanted badly to tell her and everyone else, to finally rid himself of this burden placed on his shoulders by fate. She had looked so beautiful standing there, her features written with concern over him. Yet...

He couldn't.

He WOULDN'T.

"I'm..." Taichi said as he gently removed her hand, a twinge of sadness crossing his chocolate-brown orbs as he looked away from her. "I'm sorry, Sora. I can't right now. There isn't time."

"Time? Time for what?" A reply was never given as Taichi walked away from her, a curse crossing the Child of Love's mind at her friend. 

(end flashback)

'It's been five years since then, Tai.' Sora thought to herself as she picked up a picture laying on her dresser. It was a photograph of all of the Odaiba Chosen Children together, taken the same day that Malomyotismon was defeated. It was the final time that they co-existed as a group, as a family. 'Nothing's been the same since you left. So where ARE you?' She was interrupted by the beeping of a familiar object laying on her bed. It was a D-Terminal, the same device that the present group of Chosen Children, led by Daisuke, utilized in their different missions. The older Chosen now each carried one in case of emergencies like Armangemon.

"...Mmmm..." Biyomon, Sora's Digimon, said as she rose from her slumber near the bed. "Sora, what is it?" 

"I don't know yet, Biyomon." Sora replied to the pink avian as she opened the device, reading the text message waiting. It read: 

'Sora,  
There's an emergency that needs your help. Come ASAP and bring Biyomon.  
Signed, Izzy'

"Let's go, Biyomon." Sora said as she put the D-Terminal and her digivice in the pockets of her jeans. The Digimon stretched her wings and quickly followed behind her partner as the two of them left the room.


	3. Part 3

Part 2

The air was charged as the two opponents fought tooth to claw, one determined to destroy while the other driven to protect. He had fought his way back to the world he knew, escaping the hellish nightmare that he was sure was the fate of the Digital World. Blood coated the edge of his gold sword, his eyes dark with the steel-edged determination of a thousand lives' worth of experience as he brought his blade down over and over again. Failure was no option for him. His friends' lives depended on it.

The five years he spent in seclusion with his partner have not worn well with him. He had trained in secret, moving across the Digital World to help whomever would need it, letting his duties drive him father away from his past. He had met many other Chosen Children, some familiar while others had been unique in their own ways, yet all had given him a sense of nostalgia and loneliness. Then the darkness arrived in the persona of Neo Saiba.

He had known Neo once before on Earth, a reclusive silver-haired boy driven in rivalry and revenge rather than friendship. The death of his sister, Rei, was only the catalyst needed to open a very familiar door. He had stepped through, embracing the shadows as he received what he called a blessing: a black DigiCore.

The sword-wielding youth grit his teeth as he forced his opponent back, his sword clanging over and over with the rhythm of metal on metal. He had returned to his native Digital World to find it a nightmarish parody, Neo having arrived as the second coming of the Digimon Emperor. He had gone to lengths even Ken would not have done, forcibly reformatting many who dared to rebel against his will and resurrecting the lost technology of the Black Gears. Someone had to stop him soon before it was too late. Someone had to act.

With a final swing, the teenager brought his sword through the SkullMeramon's neck, deleting the force-reformatted Ultimate at last. There was no satisfaction in this victory, the Digimon being one in the thousands of reformatted Digital Monsters created in Neo's madness. He reached inside his worn blue cloak and pulled out his digivice, gripping it as he closed his eyes. The LCD screen was broken, it's usefulness seemingly gone to the casual observer. His brown eyes seemed to glimmer with a familiar light as they spotted a television set in the sandy ground. He was going to go home. At last, Taichi Kamiya was finally going home.

----------------

Yamato Ishida listened to the sounds of his guitar as he practiced, letting the music communicate his feelings and thoughts. He was one of the few Chosen who haven't changed in the five years, physically remaining the same blond-haired musician he always was. His band, the Teenage Wolves, dissolved shortly after high school to pursue other interests, leaving Yamato alone to concentrate on his art.

His music was his way of talking to the world, letting them know who he was and what he was thinking about. Today, it was singing a song about the last day Taichi, his friend and main rival, was seen in the real world...

(Flashback)

"Are you okay, Sora?" Yamato asked his girlfriend and fellow Chosen as he approached her. Her amber-laced eyes were filled with both concern and frustration as she looked away, avoiding the ice-blue eyes of the blond Chosen Child of Friendship.

"...Yeah, Matt. I'm okay." Sora replied after taking a deep breath, brushing a lock of her crimson-colored hair to the side. "I'm just tired. Have you run into Tai today, by any chance?"

"No. Any reason why I should have?"

"It's just... He's been acting really strange ever since Azulongmon talked to us a few months ago. He keeps shutting everybody out, even Kari. I..." She huffed as she slammed her fist against the locker, startling Yamato and some nearby students as they passed the two lovers. "I just don't understand him anymore, Matt. Why is he acting so stubborn lately?"

"I know." Yamato told her, remembering how stubborn the former leader of the group was at times. It was sometimes like talking to a brick wall. He then touched Sora's shoulders, letting their eyes meet. "Listen, I'll try to find Tai and talk some sense into him. Maybe he'll listen to me."

"Maybe..." The two of them embraced before heading in separate directions, unaware that neither of them would ever see Taichi again in the real world.

(End Flashback)

'What happened to you that day, Tai?' Yamato thought as he listened to the music from his guitar. 'You disappeared, not even tell anyone where you were heading or why. You were willing to let everybody worry sick about you for some reason. What was so bad that you couldn't open up to your own friends?'

"Hey Matt?" the voice of his Digimon partner Gabumon broke his concentration, his eyes glancing to the beeping D-Terminal n his partner's paws. "There's an e-mail for you from Izzy. He wants us to meet up with him and the others right away."

"Let me see." Yamato took the device from his Digimon as he read over the message. It said:

Yamato,

There's an emergency in the Digital World. Bring Gabumon and get here ASAP.

Signed,

Izzy

"Looks like we've gotta go, Gabumon." Yamato told his partner as he set his guitar down and pocketed the D-Terminal. With that, the two left the studio for Koushiro's home, where the remaining Chosen Children were supposed to be assembled.

--------

Takeru Takashi, known to the group of Chosen Children as simply "T.K.", was not having a good day.

He had been for years the stable one of the younger Chosen, becoming eventually the backbone to keep everyone's spirits high when things seemed to desperate or out of control. The blonde-haired brother of Yamato was the bearer of the Crest of Hope, ironic since now his powers were needed more than ever among the tightly-knitted group. Yet since Taichi's abrupt disappearance five years before, somehow the force holding them together was coming apart.

He had stopped past the Kamiya apartment before arriving at Koushiro's home, hoping to at least bring Hikari with him. She had drifted away from the outside world, instead choosing to pine for her lost brother in silent recluse. Seeing her in such a fragile state wounded Takeru deeply, wanting nothing more than to comfort her in times such as this. But what happened several hours before only worsened matters...

(Flashback)

"Hikari, please answer me." Takeru had asked as he stood outside her bedroom door, somewhat anxious about returning here since the premature end of their relationship. Once, before Azulongmon's ill-timed warning, the two Chosen had loved each other deeply. Hikari was far more than another Chosen to Takeru. She had an extraordinary gift to provide the world, brightening the world one piece at a time with her grace and beauty. Yet since they were cautioned by fate, apparently, she had cast him aside as if their relationship never happened.

"It's no use, T.K." Patamon, his Digimon partner, said sadly from atop the blond youth's head. "She hasn't said anything since you got here."

"I'm not giving up, Patamon." Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, revealing Gatomon instead of her Chosen Child. She looked worn and tired, bags beginning to appear under her green feline eyes.

"Sorry, T.K." Gatomon told the two holders of Hope. "She doesn't want to see you right now, or anybody else."

"But she's got to!" Takeru insisted. "Izzy sent out an e-mail to everyone about a problem in the Digital World. We have to meet up and see what's going on."

"I know, but..." Gatomon took a deep breath as she began to explain. "Kari's been really out of it since Tai... since he disappeared a couple years back. She just goes to her room and stays there all day. She won't even talk to me. ME, her partner!" The feline Digimon balled her paws into tiny fists, frustration now written on her face. "Why did Tai have to leave her like this, huh? Why'd he act so selfish and do this to his own sister?"

"I know." Takeru said solemnly as he petted Gatomon, Patamon jumping down and placing a reassuring paw on her shoulder. "Listen, just let her know that we're here if she needs us. We've gotta get going."

"Sure." Gatomon replied, giving a weak smile and the two bearers of Hope started to leave.

(End Flashback)

'Kari...' Takeru thought to himself, also feeling frustrated at not being able to help Hikari through this darkness that surrounded her. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right, T.K.?" the voice of Koushiro asked as Takeru turned to him. "You seemed to be reflecting pretty deeply on something."

"I'm okay. I was just... I was just thinking, Izzy."

"Well, we should go inside now since everyone else has arrived." The two Chosen stepped inside the small apartment, seeing that most of the others had already arrived with their Digimon. The only absences were Mimi, who was returning to Japan the following day, and Joe, who had an emergency to attend to at a nearby hospital.

"Okay, Izzy." Yamato said to the red-haired Child of Knowledge. "What was so important that we had to be here?"

"Well, I've been corresponding with Gennai over the last few months about the current status of the Digital World." Koushiro explained. "According to him, there has been some very dangerous activity, causing a disruption in the Digital World's main analog matrix and regressing to a previous state."

"Umm... I got everything except what you just said, Izzy." Daisuke admitted, not the only person confused when Koushiro launches into his "techno-babble" speak.

"In other words, this is a current map of the Digital World as it stands now." He typed some commands and brought up a map on his computer screen, the layout strikingly familiar to the younger members of the group.

"It can't be." Ken muttered. "The coordinates match completely but that's... impossible."

"What are you talking about, Ken?" Daisuke asked his Jogress-Digivolve partner and friend.

"When I was still the Digimon Emperor, some of the first areas I overtook were on the continent of Server. The map Izzy just displayed is the same one."

"Correct." Koushiro said as he closed the map, relieved to have someone else there who understood what he was saying. "My point is that someone or something is there in the Digital World performing something similar."

"Then we have to go in and stop whomever is causing this." Iori, also known as Cody, spoke up. "Who knows what kind of torment the Digimon are suffering."

"Cody's right." Miyako, called Yolei by friends and family, added. "If someone's trying to reconstruct the Emperor's work, then who knows what they'll do to the poor Digimon."

"I emphasize, Yolei, but that just isn't possible right now." Koushiro told her. "Nearly all of the DigiPorts were shut down or destroyed a few months ago. I've been working on a counter program to get us to the Digital World but without success."

"So what do we do now?" Sora asked. Just then, the sound of an explosion rocked the small apartment. The children drew their attention to the outside window, where a fog was beginning to form on the streets below. The screams of innocent bystanders could be heard as the explosions continued.

"What the hell is that?" Daisuke exclaimed, echoing everyone's sentiments as they turned their attention back to Koushiro and his computer.

"This... this is impossible!" the Child of Knowledge said as he turned to the group. "According to my analyzer, some sort of digital barrier zone is forming down below. The data corresponds to that of a Digital Gateway."

"Then whatever's down there could be a Digimon?" Takeru finally asked.

"Possibly."

"Then we should get down there also." Yamato told them, taking out his digivice. "We've gotta make sure that innocents aren't caught in the crossfire of whatever's in there."

"I'll stay here and maintain a link through your D-Terminals." Koushiro mentioned. The small group then headed out of the apartment to the street below, bracing themselves for whatever would be in the fog waiting.

--------

As the Chosen Children emerged from the building, they were immediately caught in the foggy surroundings. Several cars were destroyed already, no doubt from the unknown Digimon's attacks, with some nearby building damaged slightly. Fortunately, many of the citizens had already scattered, taking care of one problem.

"Man, what a mess." Daisuke said, putting his goggles over his eyes to see better. Whatever did this was pretty tough but WE'RE tougher."

"Just keep your guard up." Yamato warned. Suddenly, a laughter emerged from the void, chilling the small group as they looked around.

"X-Driver!" A bolt of electric fire was spewed out of nowhere, startling them as the children and their Digimon looked frantically for the source.

"Up there!" Iori shouted as the group turned their attention to the sky. Descending from above was a Digimon that was completely unfamiliar. It was saurian but humanoid in appearance, black scale-covered wings on it's back to complement it's biker-style clothes. In one hand it held a large assault rifle and the other glowed a sickly green energy.

"You are the Chosen Children, also called the DigiDestined, correct?" it hissed as it landed on the ground below, it's eyes settling on the Digimon who stood before their partners to protect them.

"What if we are?" Daisuke said confidently, gripping his D-3 tightly. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Cryosismon, a Mercenary Virus-type." the saurian Digimon told them as he leveled his gun at them. "I am also to be you executioner."

"Time to digivolve, guys!" Daisuke ordered as the group whipped out their various digivices.

"Veemon, digivolve to... ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon, digivolve to... Stingmon!"

"Hawkmon, digivolve to... Aquilamon!"

"Armadillomon, digivolve to... Ankylomon!"

"Patamon, digivolve to... Angemon!"

"Gabumon, digivolve to... Garurumon!"

"Biyomon, digivolve to... Birdramon!"

"X-Driver!" Cryosismon shouted, firing round after round at the various Digimon to force them on the defensive. Some of the shots hit the surrounding buildings instead, causing debris to be scattered.

"Keep him away from the buildings!" Ken said. "We can't chance anyone getting hurt here!"

"Serpent's Sting!" The black-haired Chosen of Kindness soon found himself in the line of fire from the saurian Digimon's glowing fist. Fortunately, the attack was blocked by Stingmon, weakening the bug Digimon somewhat.

"Back off of Ken, now!" Stingmon demanded as he charged his stingers. "Spiking Strike!" The saurian zig-zagged between the attacks easily.

"You okay, Ken?" Yamato asked over the Digimon's various attacks.

"I'm fine but he's too fast for us at the Champion level." Ken said as he produced his D-3. "Davis, we need to DNA digivolve now!"

"Gotcha!" Daisuke answered, bringing out his own D-3.

"ExVeemon..."

"Stingmon..."

"DNA Digivolve to... Paildramon!"

"Guys, I've finally gotten the analyzer to check on this Digimon's stats." Koushiro's voice said over the D-Terminal's open link. "It says that he's a high-level Ultimate type."

"Okay, so we've gotta go Ultimate also." Yamato said as he took out his digivice, hoping that the power Azulongmon gave them five years before was still useful. "Get ready Garurumon!"

"Garurumon, digivolve to..." But before the wolf Digimon could finish, he was kicked in the ribs by Cryosismon, who then back-handed him away.

"Damn it!" Sora cursed, relieved to see Birdramon still in the skies avoiding the strange Digimon. "He's still too fast."

"Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon shouted as he fired his own guns at the saurian, grunting in frustration as it dodged the fatal energy.

"T.K., they need help!" Iori shouted to his Jogress partner.

"Let's do it." Takeru replied, the two boys taking out their D-3s.

"X-Driver!" Cryosismon shouted as he hit Ankyomon and Angemon before they could Jogress, returning them to the In-Training stages.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon shouted as she also hit Cryosismon, determined to avenge her fallen friends. The saurian shrugged off each of the deadly fireballs.

"My turn. Serpent's Sting!" Cryosismon wrapped his glowing hand around Birdramon's neck, squeezing until she reverted to the Rookie stage and fell out of the sky.

"No! Birdramon!" Sora shouted in horror as she watched her partner crash into the ground below.

"Aquilamon, pick up the slack!" Miyako shouted to her partner.

"Grand Horn!" Aquilamon shouted, preparing to run the saurian Digimon through with his glowing horns. Cryosismon smacked the Champion Digimon into a building and grabbed the horns, breaking them in his hands. Miyako screamed as her partner crashed to the ground as well, reverting to Poromon.

"Ken, we need Imperialdramon!" Daisuke shouted to his friend, determined not to give up.

"Agreed, Davis."

"Paildramon, Mega digivolve to..." Before they could finish, Cryosismon ran his glowing hand through the chestplate of the dragon Digimon, reverting him to Veemon and Wormmon as they also fell from the sky.

"This was far too easy." Cryosismon grunted as he leveled his gun at the group of Chosen Children, all of them frightened and concerned over their injured Digimon. "X-Driver!" he shouted as it headed for them. Suddenly, another energy blast hit the attack and canceled it out. Cryosismon looked ahead and was slammed into a brick wall by a shadowed figure. The figure stood defiantly in front of the startled group of Chosen Children, his feet not touching the ground as he clenched his fists.

"Leave them alone, Cryosismon. NOW." the figure demanded, his form hidden by the fog. Cryosismon grunted as he observed the new arrival. This was finally going to get interesting.

"Seprent's Sting!" the saurian shouted as he charged at the newcomer but was puched in the jaw. The figure punched him over and over until he was launched into the sky with a right cross, twin energy beams blasting him from the figure's eyes. The Digimon landed several feet away near the edge of the fog barrier, seeing the stranger flying towards him with burning fists. This was the end.

"Terra Force!" the stranger shouted as the fire in his fists collected into a giant energy orb. He slammed it onto the Digimon, deleting him instantly as the fog barrier began to finally lift. The stranger then returned his attention to the perplexed group of Chosen, all of them too stunned to say anything. He flew over to them, setting on the ground as he knelt to the ground in exhaustion.

"That was awesome." Daisuke said in awe. "He was like one of those American manga heroes."

"But fighting another Digimon one on one without the aid of another Digimon?" Ken added. "That makes no sense."

"Who... are you?" Yamato was the first to speak as the cautiously approached the newcomer. All of them gasped in shock when they saw whom it was. His clothes were different from before, his crest emblazoned on his chest proudly underneath the cloak, but there was no mistake.

"Nice to see you too, Matt."

"...TAI?!?"


	4. Part 4

Part 3

"Is is really you, Tai?" Yamato asked the former leader of the Chosen, as surprised as the rest of the group to see their friend alive and well. His appearance was definitely different from what they remembered. His hair now possessed orange streaks in it and underneath his cloak he wore steel-gray armor colored fire-red in various places. He held up an armor-covered hand to them, a sphere of digital code surrounding him as he began to grunt in pain.

"Stay back!" Taichi told them as the code swarmed his body, stripping him of the powers that saved the lives of his friends. As the code vanished and he rose to his feet, his appearance was closer to what he was before he retreated to the Digital World five years prior. His upswept hair was somewhat shorter but the style still recognizable, a pair of broken black goggles around his neck. To an observer, it would seem as if he were fighting a war.

"Tai, dude, what happened to you?" Daisuke asked his mentor. "I mean, you swooped in like one of those manga heroes or something."

"Not to mentioning taking on a Digimon that nearly demolished all of ours at only the Ultimate level." Ken added.

"Listen, guys." Taichi started to explain to them, his chocolate-brown eyes hard as he looked at he group of Chosen. "A lot's happened in the Digital World, and to me, in the last few years. There's a lot you need to catch up on and I'll try to explain. Believe me, it's a long story."

"Tai, where's Agumon?" Takeru asked, noticing the orange dinosaur was nowhere to be seen. "I thought he was with you."

"Like I said, T.K., it's a long story." Taichi looked away from the Chosen he once led with the mention of his partner, not wanting to tell them the fate of his partner just yet. The memory was still fresh in his mind, too fresh to recount to them now. There would be time to tell them everything eventually, but not yet.

Away from the reunion of the former leader with his comrades, Sora contemplated quietly to herself. Taichi was finally home, her oldest friend returned after vanishing without a trace. Part of her felt elated, as if a great weight was lifted from her shoulders. She had missed Taichi dearly, not as much as Hikari had but still strongly. They had shared so much once before, a bond established years prior forged by many trials that tested them in both the real and Digital Worlds. Yet deep within the auburn-haired woman's mind, there was something else that beckoned her forward. It was a feeling she thought had died years before but was only beginning to resurface.

"Tai?" she said to her oldest friend, her breath nearly catching in her throat as he looked into her ruby-colored eyes with his own. They were the same chocolate-brown orbs as before but they now possessed a tinge of green.

"...What's wrong, Sora?" Taichi asked.

"You... you should probably see Kari later on." Sora told him. "She hasn't exactly taken your leaving very well."

"I know..." Taichi replied, remembering all too well what had happened on the day he left the real world for what he believed to be the final time...

(Flashback)

"Please don't leave, Tai." Hikari had pleaded with her brother as he began to pack the last of his things into a duffel bag, Agumon holding it open for him. "You don't have to go."

"You don't understand, Kari." Taichi replied, a dark look in his eyes as he turned to his sister, startling her somewhat. "I don't have a choice anymore. You heard Azulongmon's warning. A Digimon's coming that you'll need WarGreymon's help with. Right now, Agumon isn't at his best potential and... neither am I."

"That doesn't mean you have to leave us behind!" Hikari blurted out, almost to the point of tears as she stood in front of her brother. He was holding something back, something that was killing him inside. It was a darkness, a force Hikari could sense around him for days since their meeting with Azulongmon and Gennai. "Tai, we're your friends. I'm your sister. Why won't you let us in?"

Taichi glanced to the ground, hating himself for putting his sister through this. She was begging for him to stay now, to still be the older brother she loved once more. Part of him wanted to, perhaps even to tell her his true motive for abandoning leadership of the Chosen.

But it was too late for that. Time was running out.

"...Agumon!" Taichi summoned as he took out his digivice, ignoring Hikari pulling on his arm in desperation.

"Tai, don't go! We still need you!" Her only reply was being swept into a tight hug from her sibling, the hot wetness of tears beginning to stream from both of their eyes. He couldn't stop now, not when so much was on the line. She would survive. All of them would with Yamato and Daisuke to fall back on. He had to go now, before he regretted it later.

"Stay strong, Kari." Taichi whispered. "Stay strong for me." He then pointed his digivice at the computer on his bedroom desk, seeing the familiar Digital Gate open. He turned around one last time as Agumon joined his partner, seeing the sorrow-filled look on Hikari's face. "I'll be back, Kari. I promise."

"TAI!!!" Hikari called as she tried to run after her brother, grief in her eyes as it snapped closed. She collapsed onto the floor, sobbing violently over her brother's departure.

(End Flashback)

"There's a lot all of us need to catch up on." Yamato said to the group. "Right now, we need to regroup and find out what Izzy's learned."

"Right." Taichi added. "I'll meet up with you later after I check on Kari." With that, the small group returned to tending to their wounded Digimon.

---------

The citadel was as quiet as a mausoleum as the figure reclined on the marble throne, his mind ablaze with dark thoughts. He was at home in the silence and shadows. This was his solace, his promised kingdom within the darkness of the Digital World. For Neo Saiba, his life was still far from complete as long as HE walked the earth.

The silver-haired young man blamed Taichi still, not merely for the death of his sister but for bringing him to this point. It was his fault that Rei's life was taken from him, the only light in his life extinguished far too early. It was his fault that he was forced to seek him out, to drive him and his allies away from his new kingdom. It was HIS fault, no one else BUT him!

"So Taichi has returned to his friends in the real world, has he?" Neo asked no one in particular, a sinister look in his smoldering gray eyes.

"Yes, master." the shadows replied in a multitude of voices.

"Well then, this changes things dramatically." Neo rose from his throne, clasping his hands behind his back as he approached a nearby window. The landscape was slowly becoming a grayscale parody of itself, whole pieces of land becoming consumed by static images like a television with no signal. "He will no doubt go to warn his friends about me then, won't he?"

"Correct, master."

"In that case, we shall prepare for the return of the DigiDestined to my kingdom." He turned his head slightly, seeing that he was joined by a woman draped in shadows. Her skin was porcelain-white, a stark contrast to the skin-tight leather outfit she was clothed in to complement her jet-black hair and dragon wings.

"Is Dragomon ready for Phase Two, Askaraamon?" Neo asked his consort.

"Yes, Lord Neo." The female demon-type Digimon said smoothly. "Although he wishes to have some... fun with his own consort before he begins."

"The transition is beginning smoothly, then?"

"There were some initial problems at first. She did resist, as did her partner, at first. Nevertheless, they were persuaded to forsake the light as you did, master."

"Excellent." He reached into his shirt pocket, revealing a gray version of Hikari's original Crest of Light. "The old saying is, after all, to do unto others." He the crushed the now-ancient power in his hands, it's source depleted years before, before returning his attention to the landscape.

"So what now, master?"

"We wait. It is Taichi's move now and I doubt that puppy Tamer will sit still for long before he and his trash Tamer allies come after me." Neo lifted the sleeve on his shirt, revealing a broken device on his wrist that could've been a digivice once. Like Taichi's, it's LCD was also destroyed, the white surface scratched and weather-beaten.

"You will return, Taichi, and I will have my revenge."


	5. Part 5

Part 4

The rain had become a steady downpour as the remaining Chosen Children returned to Koushiro's apartment, many spirits much higher than before since Taichi's return. Their leader was back. The team was nearly whole again. Yet there was a gap that remained in the aftermath that couldn't be denied.

Yamato studied Taichi as he walked with the group, feeling as though the young man was hiding something from them about his newfound abilities. He had developed into a strategist during his short-lived tenure as the resident "lone wolf" of the team, never allowing himself to get involved into anything without a plan. It was one of his saving graces that allowed some of the Chosen, such as Daisuke, to look up to him. Yet all of the planning in the world would not have prepared any of them for what had happened tonight.

"Welcome back, guys." Koushiro said as the small group entered the apartment. "I've just managed to contact Gennai about our recent scenario and he's discovered some interesting data."

"It's good to see you too, Izzy." the familiar voice said, startling the resident genius as he whipped around to see Taichi standing nearby.

"Tai!" Koushiro said happily as he greeted his old friend. "When did... how? I didn't pick up your digivice's signal on the analyzer."

"You wouldn't have." The brown-haired leader showed his damaged digivice to the Chosen Child of Knowledge, his features becoming grim as he expected shock from his allies.

"I think it's time for you to explain what's been going on, Tai." Yamato told him. "First of all, how is it that you come out of nowhere after five years like a superhero?"

"I guess I should start at the beginning." Tai replied, his eyes gaining a faraway look as he glanced at his ruined digivice, feeling the cool metallic surface under his fingers. "It all started a few days after Azulongmon's little lecture. Gennai talked to me later on and told me that the power I had to digivolve Agumon to WarGreymon wasn't strong enough to defeat what was coming. In order to unlock Agumon's true potential, as well as my own, I had to discover the process of Bio-Fusion."

"Bio-what?"

"Bio-Fusion. It's a process that allows the Digimon of a Chosen to bind it's DigiSoul to his or her partner. They essentially become one being." The Chosen of Courage took a deep breath, recalling what it had taken to unlock that part of himself. "About a year into our training, Agumon and I were sent out across the Digital World's different zones to find out why most of the Digital Gates had been destroyed rather than sealed..."

(Flashback)

"Heat Viper!" an army of Kimeramon shouted as they summoned their attacks, igniting the desert region with waves of nuclear energy. Taichi stood bravely on WarGreymon's shoulders as the heroic Mega Digimon dodged their attacks, mentally calculating what it would take to stop the mutant Digimon before they destroyed the desert area of Server. It had been a long process but WarGreymon was stronger than ever, larger and more powerful than when Agumon first became the legendary Digimon. Yet Gennai had told him that it still wasn't enough.

"Tai, you should stay back where it's safe." WarGreymon told his partner, blocking another attack from one of the Kimeramon.

"No way, buddy." Taichi replied. "This Digital Zone is connected to Earth-DS and their DigiDestined haven't had their Digimon that long. If any of these Kimeramon get through, even DATS can't contain them." He then smirked at his partner. "Besides, if you go down, I'm going with you."

"All right, Tai." WarGreymon then flew downward, an energy sphere growing in his hands. "Terra Force!" he shouted as he slammed it into one of the Kimeramon, weakening it but not deleting it. One of the other mutant Digimon flew up to him, smashing itself into the Mega-level Digimon and almost throwing Taichi off.

"Don't give up, WarGreymon!" Taichi called out as he hanged on, his partner stopping himself before they both hit the sandy desert below. WarGreymon took his partner off his shoulder, setting him on the ground and out of harm's way.

"What are you doing, WarGreymon?" Taichi asked in confusion.

"Tai, there's something wrong with these Digimon. They're different than the usual Ultimate-level. Right now, they're fighting on Mega-level terms."

"I've noticed." He looked up and saw that three of the Kimeramon were charging for them, the energy of their attacks building.

"Look out!" Taichi shouted as WarGreymon twisted around to see the Virus-type Digimon, thinking that this was it for both of them. There was one more option to protect his partner, one that was dangerous and often fatal to any other Digimon.

"NO!" WarGreymon shouted as he leapt in front of Taichi, ignoring the horrified look on the goggle-wearing Chosen's face.

"Heat Viper!" The Kimeramon shouted as they blasted WarGreymon with hot waves of radiation, the Mega-level Digimon not moving from where his partner stood. He bore the attacks as it ripped through his armor and reptilian skin, literally baking him from the inside out. WarGreymon didn't care, not as long as Taichi was safe. He would die happy in the knowledge that his partner was alive.

"NOOOOO!!!!!!" Taichi shouted in horror as the attack faded, leaving a broken and beaten Agumon in place of WarGreymon. The orange reptile collapsed to the desert floor, flecks of data beginning to spill out of him like blood as the brown-haired young man raced to his side.

"...Agumon, say something! Anything!"

Agumon felt himself picked up and held by his partner, his vision becoming cloudy by the second. He wasn't afraid of being deleted, possessing an equal amount of courage as his Chosen. Protecting Taichi was all that counted in the end.

"Don't be afraid, Tai... it doesn't hurt... or anything. I'm just glad... I could save you..."

"Don't be stupid!" Taichi scolded, tears beginning to spill down his face. He had cried only three times in his entire life. The first two times involved Hikari being sick and his guilt over it. The third involved nearly losing Sora to Datamon during their first Digimon adventure. He had built up walls since then, swearing never to let his emotions control him again. He was breaking that promise now.

"Tai... thank you... for being my friend." With that, the brave Digimon slowly decompiled into bits of data, a burning sense of rage building inside of Taichi as he looked upward at the Kimeramon. They circled the site like a pack of vultures, ready to pick clean the flesh of the damned. The rage built more and more within the Chosen Child of Courage, overshadowing the digivice that was shrieking on his belt.

"...AGUMON!!!!!!!!!!" Taichi cried out in grief-stricken rage, the energies built within the digivice finally shattering the tiny LCD screen as it exploded around him. As it enveloped him, Taichi felt a strong presence from within him. It was all around him, burning like liquid fire. It was calling to him, invoking an ancient power the Digital World had not seen since it's creation by the ancient computer system, ENIAC. Taichi's eyes were now filled with an orange glow as he screamed, knowing that somehow Agumon and he were one being now. His partner lived on within, giving him the gift to evolve beyond their past selves.

"Agumon, burst digivolve to..." Taichi heard Agumon's voice speak as the metamorphosis began. His clothes transformed into steel-gray armor plating, the Crest of Courage etched proudly on his chestplate and gauntlets with razor-sharp blades on his forearms. His hair was streaked with orange as his skin became more reptilian, the cloak around him becoming a flowing blue cape.

He was more than Taichi Kamiya.

He was beyond Agumon.

He had digivolved into...

"...SoulGreymon!"

As the orange energy faded, in the midst stood the new Hybrid-type called SoulGreymon. By fusing his essence with Agumon, Taichi had finally unlocked the secret of Bio-Fusion and digivolved beyond Mega. The end result was that it had cost his partner his life, a sacrifice that would not go unavenged.

SoulGreymon took to the skies like a rocket, burning in anger as he spotted the Kimeramon circling the battlegrounds. He would avenge the death of Agumon here with their spilled data.

"Nova Drive!" SoulGreymon shouted as the bladed on his gauntlets extended forward, letting him slice through the Kimeramon easily. One by one, the mutant Digimon felt his wrath over and over as they were deleted under his attack. He then came across the main Kimeramon of the group, the one who had stolen his partner's life.

"Heat Viper!" the Virus-type called out in vain as it tried to burn SoulGreymon to the ground. He charged straight through it, his eyes burning with orange energy as he slashed his gauntlet blades through Kimeramon's stomach.

"Nova Vision!" SoulGreymon called out as he expelled the energy from his eyes at the mutant Digimon, only partially deleting him at it fell to the sandy ground below. He then collected the energy around him into a familiar sphere, preparing to avenge his partner by using the same primary attack as he had as WarGreymon.

"Terra Force!"

Kimeramon screamed as his data was finally erased by the infamous energy sphere, transforming some of the nearby sand into glass as it was incinerated under the heat. SoulGreymon landed on the ground below, his anger fading along with the heat of his attacks on the desert plain. A sphere of digital code surrounded the new warrior of Courage as he reverted to Taichi once more, collapsing onto the sand as he energy was expended. He glanced over to the horizon, seeing a lone figure standing atop one of the sand dunes and smirking evilly at him. Taichi's last thought were of recognizing the silver-haired young man staring down at him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

(End Flashback)

"So to answer your question, T.K., Agumon's dead." Taichi reflected as his eyes drifted downward. "But in a sense, I am Agumon now since his DigiSoul is a part of me."

"This does appear to coincide with what Gennai e-mailed me about." Koushiro added. "He said that a force from outside the Digital World is at work disrupting the natural flow of the space-time matrix there. Whomever is responsible is also slowly weakening the barriers between the Digital World and Earth."

"That would explain why Digimon like Armangemon and, just now, Cryosismon were able to get through." Ken spoke. Just then, Sora emerged from the living room of the apartment with a stunned look in her eyes.

"Tai, that was your mom." Sora told her friend. "She... I told her that you were here and..."

"Sora, what is it?" Taichi asked, his senses telling him that what she had to say wasn't pleasant news. He had seen that look before on his own mother's face when Hikari needed to go to the hospital. "Is it about Kari?"

She nodded solemnly before she told him the rest. "She said that she heard a noise coming from her bedroom. When she went to check on Kari, all she found was a note and... and there was a lot of blood. She thinks..."

"Don't say any more." Taichi told her, a look of horror crossing his face as he realized what could've happened. "I've got to go, guys."

"I'll go with you." Sora added, grabbing her jacket from a nearby chair before she met Yamato's eyes. "I'll be back soon."

The blond reluctantly nodded his consent, knowing he would be just as concerned if it was Takeru that might be in danger. He watched his girlfriend disappear out the door with the former Chosen leader and her Digimon partner, his mind working rapidly to figure out what was going on lately. First Taichi returns with, apparently, his Digimon's powers as part of him and now Hikari vanishes as well. Something didn't add up.

"What does the rest of Gennai's letter say, Izzy?" Yamato finally asked the Chosen Child of Knowledge.

-------

Taichi finally reached his home with Sora nearby, his mind frantic over what could've happened to his little sister. Hikari wasn't a strong person, especially when she was younger. She had developed a sickness when she was still a toddler, almost dying after playing a game of soccer with Taichi that day. His mother blamed him at first, the young goggled boy taking the responsibility on his shoulders. Even after Hikari recovered and overcame her sickness, he still blamed himself for that day. Taichi would protect his sister with his life. But now...

As he entered the small Kamiya apartment, he spotted several police officers there investigating the scene. His mother, Yuuko, was at the kitchen table, her eyes heavy from crying over her children. As she looked up and saw Taichi standing in the doorway, new tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Taichi!" Yuuko sobbed as she embraced her only son, part of her grief subsiding for a moment at seeing him.

"I'm here, Mom." Taichi told her, not seeing Sora enter the apartment behind him. "It's okay." He then looked around to see that his father, Susumu, wasn't there. "Where's Dad?"

"He's still at work." Yuuko told him between sobs. "Taichi, Hikari's..."

"I know." The Chosen of Courage left his mother's side to see for himself, letting Sora try to comfort her. As he entered Hikari's room, he saw that much of it was the same as before he left. Nearly nothing had changed. That was before he noticed the blood on the floor and the note on the bed. He picked it up, seeing it was written in DigiCode. It read:

Hikari shall reign forever with the shadows as her guide.

Only one other person other than Koushiro or Ken would know how to write in Digital language. He clenched the note in his hand as he grit his teeth in anger, knowing right away who was responsible.

"Neo, you son of a bitch!" Taichi spat in anger. "Why her? WHY MY OWN SISTER?!?" He punched the wall, the rage and sorrow of his five-year journey finally catching up with him. "She was an innocent, you bastard. She had nothing to do with this!" He collapsed to his knees, finally letting out the grief he was holding back. First Agumon, now his sister...

Sora stood in the doorway to the bedroom, seeing Taichi on the ground with tears rolling down his face. This was a side she had only heard of once before from him. It was when Datamon abducted her during their first Digimon adventure nearly a decade before. Taichi had cried then, she was told, something he refused to do again until now. Her eyes became soft as she entered, kneeling beside him as she held him close.

"First Agumon... now Kari..." Taichi managed to say quietly, all of his held-back pain finally breaking through. He failed to feel Sora's arms around him in comfort, his insides becoming numb instead.

"It's okay, Tai." Sora told him gently as she tried to soothe her friend. "We'll find her. I promise." This was what was missing before when he left five years earlier. This was what he needed now.


	6. Part 6

Part 5 

(Author's Note: Thanks, everyone, for all of your wonderful reviews and kind words. anon and Fury Cutter, the bad news is that Agumon isn't the only Digimon about to bite the dust. The good news is, though, they will be back before too long so please don't stop reading just yet. To everyone else, continue to review and enjoy.)

The rain had finally begin to stop as Jyou Kido finally stopped in front of the airport's main entrance, catching his breath as he allowed himself a moment's rest on a nearby bench. He had raced here tonight after handling a medical emergency at the nearby hospital, helping a child who nearly poisoned himself by swallowing some laundry detergent. It wasn't fatal but was more than a handful for the young doctor-in-training. After soothing the child's parents and insuring that the child would definitely be out of danger, he checked the clocks only to see that he would be late. He had a promise to keep and would live up to his name as Chosen Child of Reliability. After all, it wasn't every day that you got to reunite with a former girlfriend like Mimi Tachikawa.

Mimi had changed dramatically from the time she had spent with her fellow Chosen. The Chosen Child of Purity had evolved from a self-centered girl obsessed with her looks and popularity to become an honest and beautiful woman who would give her all to keep her friends together. While some of her peers dove into cosmetics to bring out their beauty, it was never needed in Jyou's eyes. Ever since they first met at summer camp nearly a decade before, she had more than placed him under her spell. His heart would always belong to her, even if she didn't realize it at first.

Jyou glanced upward at the fading clouds as they began to give way to a sky filled with starlight, remembering another night three years before that everything began to change. Mimi had begun to rely on him as a confidant, both of them now outsiders watching as their group of Chosen began to waste away from the inside. Taichi's disappearance had already begin to sever the bonds they had built with each other and, to Jyou's fear, his evolving relationship with Mimi was to be the latest victim...

(Flashback)

"What's wrong, Mimi?" Jyou had asked the strawberry-blond as they sat on a nearby park bench, watching a few other couples walk past them. They had taken an evening walk near Highton View Terrace, the special place where all of them witnessed their first Digimon attack many years before and where most of the Chosen used to live. It always meant something special to all of them, yet most of them seldom came to the old apartment complex anymore.

Mimi's eyes met the pavement rather than the gentle gaze of her companion, her mind racked with indecision as she struggled for the right words to say to him. Usually, she was the first one to speak her mind on whatever she was feeling. Yet what do you say to repair the pieces of a broken life? How do you find the words to ease the pain?

"Joe, there's something I have to tell you." Mimi began to say, still unable to meet his eyes. She knew that if she did, she would begin to cry for the first of many times that evening.

"What is it?"

"You know, ever since Tai disappeared, it feels like everything's coming apart all around us. Everyone's either too busy or upset to even come here anymore with the Digimon, and we always come here to remember what happened to us." She finally met his dark blue eyes with her warm brown ones, feeling the first hot tears begging to burst through. "What DID happen, Joe? When did we stop caring about each other?"

"We do care, Mimi." Jyou said, trying to keep her calm in spite of the reality that she was echoing his own fears. He had also changed throughout the time he had spent in the Digital World, becoming more confident with every day yet still the sensible one among the group, or 'Old Reliable' as he was sometimes called. He needed to be that now for his friend, perhaps going a step or two beyond that if needed.

"It's just that with Tai being gone and the Digital World quiet for the most part, most of us just started reevaluating our lives right now. We can't stay in the past forever, Mimi. We have to keep looking ahead."

"I know that, but we just can't act as if nothing we did in the Digital World mattered." The beautiful Chosen of Purity took a deep breath before turning her eyes away from his, gathering herself before saying what needed to be said. "I can't watch my friends fall apart anymore, Joe. I... I just can't..." She felt his arms moving around her in comfort, the gesture doing little to calm her in spite of it's meaning. The worst was still to come as she prepared to tell the blue-haired medical student. Jyou meant well, but he didn't understand what she was trying to tell him.

"There's something else I have to tell you." Mimi said as she struggled to pull herself together. "I applied for an internship at the Institute for Art and Design in New York City a few months ago. They sent me a letter today."

"Mimi..." Jyou started, not liking how things were progressing.

"My classes start a week from now. It's really a nice school and it won't take long for me to earn my degree."

"Mimi, stop it." Jyou said quietly, showing a rare spark of desperation lacing his voice.

"It's only going to be for four years. Who knows? Maybe things will work out and I'll be able to come back home and..." She was stopped as she was turned to face her companion, the desperation now obvious in his eyes behind his glasses. Her honey-brown eyes widened as she found her lips pressed against his own, feeling a warm and pleasant surge flow through her.

"...Stay, Mimi." Jyou said to her as he broke the unexpected kiss. "I need you to stay with me."

"Joe..." Mimi muttered quietly, hot tears beginning to run down her face as she finally understood. She couldn't do it, not even for him. "Don't make me say a promise you know I can't keep!" She then rose and ran away from the Chosen of Reliability, confusion and hopelessness swirling inside of her like an emotional hurricane as she sobbed. Jyou could only watch her leave, his eyes closing tightly in regret.

(End Flashback)

Jyou sighed to himself, wondering if the Child of Purity still thought of him after all this time. She had left the following day, leaving him behind with precious little except memories of what should have been. He was pulled from his memories by the weight of his Digimon partner, Gomamon, on his shoulders.

"What's the matter, Joe?" Gomamon asked. "You haven't been this sad since Mimi left. Aren't you happy she's coming back?"

"Of course I am, Gomamon." Jyou replied to the seal-like Digimon. "And get off my back. You're too heavy now."

"Hey! I resent that! I'm on a no-fish diet, remember?"

"A diet doesn't mean gulping down everything else in sight."

"Joe?" The pair were interrupted by a familiar soft voice. As Jyou turned around to see the speaker, his heart had nearly stopped beating. Standing behind the bickering duo was Mimi, her partner Palmon by her side. To the blue-haired Child of Reliability, she had somehow become even more beautiful than he remembered, her style of dress toned back to something akin to what she had worn during their first Digimon adventure. Even the same cowboy hat adorned her head now.

"Well, don't just stand there." Palmon piped up happily. "Aren't you happy to see us?"

"I am, but Joe might be a little tongue-tied." Gomamon added before jumping off his partner's shoulders to meet the plant-like Digimon. Jyou rose from the bench and embraced the child of Purity, feeling for the first time since she had left him that he had found himself again.

"Thanks for coming, Mimi." Jyou told the strawberry-blonde young woman. "You... You look incredible."

"...Thank you, Jyou." Mimi replied as she returned the sincere smile, smoothing a few stray tendrils of hair from around her face as she moved out of his arms. "So, I heard that you're finally a real doctor now."

"Yeah, but it's not as fulfilling as you think. When you're a kid, it all seemed so simple then. Now, sometimes I can't wait for the day to just be over with."

"Hmmm..."

An uneasy tension settled around the two Chosen, something that had been coming since their last night together three years before, since she had become finally aware of the feelings they mutually shared for one another. Instead, she had ran into the night only to leave quietly for America the next day. She had made a mistake in that three-year gap of time, a mistake that nearly corrupted her Crest of Purity. That act kept her away from her homeland until now, when she learned from Koushiro's message on her D-Terminal that she was still needed here.

"Boy, they're not as chatty as they used to be." Gomamon whispered as he hung from his partner's shoulders once more. "I thought when humans get around each other after being apart for so long, they can't wait to catch up on what they've missed."

"I guess Mimi's not the same since she got engaged a few months ago." Palmon added from her partner's side, stopping when she saw the downcast look of guilt etched in Mimi's lovely eyes.

"You're... You're engaged?" Jyou asked, also stopping in his path.

"...I meant to tell you, Joe, you and everyone else once I came home." Mimi replied in a soft voice laced with guilt, her eyes unable to meet his. "Yes, I'm engaged."

"To who?" Before the Child of Purity could answer her friend, their D-Terminals went off simultaneously. As Jyou read the message, his eyes widened in surprise. It read:

Joe,

The good news is that Tai's finally come back. However, there's also been an incident with the Digimon and we need you here ASAP. You and Mimi should meet the rest of us here at the apartment as soon as you can.

Izzy

"Tai's back?" Mimi exclaimed as she also read the message. "That's great, even if it took forever."

"Come on!" Jyou told her as he took her hand and began to run, showing a rare spark of determination once more as the two of them ran towards Koushiro's apartment with their Digimon in tow.

--------

At the Kamiya residence, Sora poured a cup of tea for herself as she thought over how things had begun to spiral downward in just a few hours. Taichi had returned, not only bringing a strange power with him but apparently news of a virtual war erupting in the Digital World. Now, Hikari had vanished, taken right from her bed by whomever this Neo person was. To her, he sounded like a copycat Digimon Kaiser but had taken things too far, instead forcing anyone who would oppose him into being force-reformatted to do his bidding. The red-haired Child of Love was grateful that neither Biyomon or any of the other Digimon were among that number.

She had set the kettle onto the stove and sat at the kitchen table, slowly sipping the tea as she lost herself in her thoughts. Being an only child, she regarded Hikari as the sister she had always wanted. The two of them shared a closeness that only the bond shared with Taichi could possibly match. Sora could see the devestation written in Hikari's eyes when she would visit, ghostly shadows drowning the light in the brown orbs. Not only was her feelings for Takeru ripped away from her but now her sibling, her pillar of strength, had seemingly abandoned her to save the Digital World on his own. In spite of the effort made, she could only watch the Child of Light slowly swallow herself into the darkness she hated.

"How is she?" the voice of Taichi interrupted as he joined her at the table, his eyes tired from lamenting over his sister's fate.

"Your mom's resting for now, but she's an emotional wreck." Sora replied to her longtime friend. "The real question is how you are doing."

"I'll feel better after I get my hands on Neo." Taichi told her, a deep-seeded anger creeping into his voice. "He'll pay for what happened to Kari. I swear." He then looked at Sora, seeing the concern written on her face. "What's with the look, Sora?"

"It's just that..." She swallowed, the lingering taste of the tea still in her mouth. "You've changed, Tai, and I just don't mean your powers. Before you left five years ago, you wouldn't even talk to us. Now you come back and you still want to deal with things on your own."

"That's not what this is about." Taichi told her. "I had to do what needed to be done, Sora. I told you that."

"Why, Tai?" Sora demanded, now standing as the anger she had felt for leaving them half a decade prior returned full force. "This isn't even like you. The Tai I know wouldn't constantly keep secrets from the people that care about him or act like a recluse. So what was so damn important that you had to act like a total stranger to your friends?!?" The pair were interrupted as their D-Terminals beeped. She opened hers and read the message:

Sora,

Mimi and Joe are here now and I have some information from Gennai about our current dilemma. You and Tai should meet us as soon as you can.

Izzy

"We'd better get going." Sora told the brown-haired Child of Courage, slipping the D-Terminal into her coat pocket as they started to leave. She glanced back to Taichi, seeing the determined expression on his face as he followed behind her.

What happened to you, Tai?' the Child of Love thought as they left the Kamiya household with fewer answers then when they began. You're still not telling me everything and I'm going to find out why.'

End Part 5 (Finally!)


	7. Part 7

Author's Note: The formatting got a little screwed up in the first version of this chapter so here it is again. However, the truth about what happened to Kari will finaly be revealed here as well. 

(Part 6)

"Greetings." the voice recording of Gennai spoke over the speakers of Koushiro's computer. "I was hoping to hear from all of you once Taichi made it back to the real world. I had hoped, however, that it would be under better circumstances." The former Order member had become much like the older Chosen had known him, his appearance that of an elderly man rather than a near-immortal avatar to the Digital World. The years of rebuilding in the aftermath of MaloMyotismon and dealing with Neo's newly-founded tyranny had worn on him horribly.

"Anyway, Izzy tells me that you need to see the prophecy, Azulongmon mentioned the last time we gathered. I'm sending it along a secure data-link for you. Good luck." With that, the screen went silent as Gennai's face vanished. Koushiro grimaced as Yamato stood over his shoulder, both of them thinking along the same train of thought. If Gennai's reverted to the state he was in during their original visit to the Digital World, something must've gone horribly wrong in their absence.

"I guess Gennai's seen better days since we saw him last." Yamato remarked to the Child of Knowledge. His ice-blue eyes drew to the text scrolling on the screen as he read aloud the desciption of things yet to come:

The second wave shall cease from power in the third Digital Age.  
And lo, the fallen Chosen who was lost unto itself  
Shall be called forth  
The Dark One shall arise from the Chosen's corrupted power  
Cursing forever the earth from which it was spawned.  
Darkness shall once more plague the Digimon  
As wars and rumors of war grip the innocent.  
The Dark Chosen shall murder, yes, murder the Ancient Guardians  
Who protect our world  
And all shall be eclipsed by eternal night.

"Whoa." Daisuke's voice spoke up in the silence, faintly echoing the sentiments of the group. "So that was why Azulongmon was worried. It sounds like something out of a horror movie." 

"The irony is that's already coming true." Ken added.

Yamato turned around, seeing that they had joined them by the small computer desk. Both boys looked tired, understandable since they were concerned over their Digimon. But the Chosen of Friendship trusted Jyou's skills to heal them. They would be fine.

"How're the Digimon doing?"

"Yolei and Joe say that they should be okay in a little bit. I'm more worried about getting to the Digital World to stop whatever's going on there." The group was interrupted as Sora and Taichi walked into the apartment, both of them looking worse for wear. Daisuke was tempted to ask about Hikari's condition, part of him still nursing lingering feelings for her after all these years. He never fully got over how attached she became to Takeru at first or how she shrank away into a recluse thanks to the warnings of a dark future. She would always remain special to him, even if she was never destined to return those feelings.

"How's Kari?" Daisuke asked immediately. "Is she..."

"She's gone." Taichi spoke grimly to his successor, his eyes dark with anger as the feeling of shock began to sink in. "She's gone, Davis. She was abducted."

"When we got to Tai's house, his mom said that she just vanished." Sora told them as she tried to sound calm. "Whomever took her only left a bloodied note behind."

"Kari... Kari's gone?" The Holder of the DigiMental of Miracles spoke as both shock and anger sunk in, understanding how Taichi must be feeling. If his own sister, Jun, had also vanished he would be in just as much rage. "Who did this?"

"Tai thinks it was whomever's responsible for what's been going on in the Digital World lately, a Chosen he fought named Neo Saiba."

"A Chosen?" Yamato finally said. "You mean this is because of someone who's a Digimon Kaiser clone?"

"It's not that simple, Matt." Taichi told him, seeing Ken wince slightly from the comparison of his old alias to this new adversary. "Neo's totally different. He's a madman bent on revenge, blaming me for his sister's death a few years ago. He doesn't care about the Digimon at all. They're just weapons to him. All he wants is to see me dead."

"So for the last five years, you knew that something like this was going on but you didn't even try to ask us for help?" Yamato demanded. "What the hell have you been doing all this time, Tai?!?"

"Don't you think if I was able to come back before, I would have?" Taichi shouted back as he stood face to face with the blond Chosen. "It couldn't be helped, Matt!"

"That's crap and you know it!" Before the two could come to blows, Sora stepped in between them to put an end to the arguing.

"Both of you quit it, right now!" Sora told them, her own eyes starting to burn with anger at her boyfriend's and best friend's immaturity. "I'm sick and tired of you two doing this. We've got better things to worry about right now."

"I don't mean to interrupt but I do have some good news." Koushiro's voice called from the computer desk, ending what would have been another of Yamato and Taichi's arguments. It was just like when they were younger, the only difference being their ages.

"What's up, Izzy?" Taichi asked the resident genius.

"Well, I've been able to finally hack the primary security buffer preventing us from accessing the Digital World's system. I can call up a Digital Gate, but..."

"I don't like the sound of that." Yamato said. "But what, Izzy?"

"However, it will be a one-way trip. The only way to return to the real world will be to shut down the security buffer entirely."

"Then it's settled." Taichi spoke up. "This is the only shot we've got to stop Neo. It's got to be now." He then turned to Daisuke, the familiar spark of leadership returning in his eyes once again. "Davis, your group has to stay here in case more Digimon like Cryosismon try to break through. When that happens, we'll need a backup plan."

"Are you kidding?" Daisuke replied. "We're going, too."

"I'm serious, Davis. There's a good chance we might not come back at all. I need to know I can count on you."

Daisuke took a look into his predecessor's eyes, seeing the serious nature they conveyed and knowing immediately what it meant. This was the calm before the storm, a storm they had to be ready to fight if push came to shove.

"...You got it, Tai." With that, the Child of Courage turned his attention back to his group of former Chosen, seeing their Digimon standing once more by their side. His eyes grew misty at the memories of Agumon, vowing that he would win this, both for him and for the Digimon helplessly destroyed thanks to this madman.

"It's time." Koushiro spoke as he stood with the others. "The gate should be opening any second now." A few tense seconds passed as the familiar sight of a digital gate opened on the screen, swallowing the original group as they embarked on what could be their final Digimon adventure.

--------

Deep within the shadow-draped bondaries of the dimension known as the Dark Ocean, Dragomon clasped his scale-covered hands in contemplation. He was absolute master of this watery domain, comfortable in his reign over the power of darkness. It fueled him, giving him and his troops of ShadowScubamon sustenance and strength to accomplish their tasks. Now, after careful planning for nearly a decade, he had achieved his one true goal above all else.

Dealing with the child called Neo Saiba was irritating, at best, He demanded the Undersea Masterуs allegiance to his goals, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the high-level Digimon could obliterate him in a second. Yet the boy made an offer even Dragomon could not refuse. He offered as chance to secure Hikari Kamiya, the Child of Light that intrigued him so much.

"I've assured you time and again, Neo, that everything is taken care of in my realm." Dragomon droned in his aquatic voice to the viewscreen in front of him. "Even if the Chosen Children posed a threat like you've mentioned, they will not defeat me or my legion." He leaned forward, letting the silver-haired young man see every scale that covered the water-dwelling tyrantуs face. 'Or is it possible that you could be underconfident in your skills to defeat your old adversary?"

"Watch your tone with me, Dragomon." Neo spoke darkly as he narrowed his eyes. "Don't forget that even you can be force-reformatted as well." He ran his fingers through his hair as he took a deep breath, calming himself before he addressed Dragomon. "At any rate, they may make an effort to rescue your succumbus from her tomb. Be on your guard." The channel closed, letting Dragomon lean back on his throne. One of the ShadowScubamon apporached cautiously, careful not to irritate the Undersea Master further.

"What is it? Dragomon told the Champion-level Digimon.

"Sir, the incubation period is nearly finished." the ShadowScubamon said. "She should be ready within the hour."

"Excellent. I wish to greet her when she awakens." Dragomon clasped his hands again as he smiled beneath the tentacles that overlapped his features, pleased that his own plans were proceeding on schedule. Yet elsewhere in the Dark Ocean, a familiar voice screamed in horror as the last of her connection to the Light was stripped away from her soul, leaving her a barren and empty shell for the darkness to reside.

End Part 6 


	8. Part 8

(Part 7)

"Whoa!" the screams of the Chosen echoed as they flew through the vortex leading from their world to the Digital World. It was totally unlike what they had gone through before, winding tunnels of color and light making way to sections hazed in electrical static. Taichi found himself glancing back at the group, suddenly reminded of their first voyage into the Digital World. It was a simpler time, a time when they were still able to mesh as an extended family. Part of him missed those times he spent with them.

"What's happening?" he heard the voice of Jyou shouted over the sound of echoing sound of signal noise. "Where's all this noise coming from?"

"In order to open a Digital Gate, I had to piggyback our data stream onto the Digital World's network output signal." Koushiro answered. "It was the only way to get past the security buffer."

"I just hope we don't land in the middle of the ocean or something." Yamato added, not noticing the somewhat agape look on the Child of Knowledge's face.

"I double-checked the calculations before we left, Matt. We should land on File Island momentarily."

'That is, unless the island is already corrupted by Neo's armada.' Taichi thought to himself grimly. He and Agumon had witnessed for themselves the devastation that gripped the world they once fought for so valiantly. It wouldn't surprise him if the location of their original adventure wasn't even there anymore.

The goggle-equipped leader found his attention suddenly drawn to Sora, seeing her grip Biyomon as the speed of the trip through the vortex framed her crimson hair around her face. To him, though he would admit it to no one, she was as beautiful and spirited now as the day he had left five years before. It would be a lie to say he never thought about her or the others during his trek, thought about how their lives might've changed in his absence. Yet now was not the time for nostalgic thinking, not with the fate of the Digital continuum resting once more on the group's shoulders. Just as the object of his attention drew her amber-jaded eyes to meet his, he forced the underlying feelings back into their tomb as he faced front once again.

They had a job to do now. There was no time for feelings that should've died years ago.

Suddenly, everyone turned as they heard a shout from behind them. A look of shock fell on Yamato's face as he witnessed Takeru and Patamon begin to fade in and out like an old television signal.

"Guys, what happening to me?!?" Takeru called out, staring at his own hands in horror as he began to fade.

"T.K., hold on!" Yamato shouted in vain as he tried to reach his younger sibling, his eyes widening as the younger blonde's hand simply passed through his as he finally vanished with his partner. He turned his ice-blue eyes around at Koushiro, feeling a sense of dread wash over him.

"Izzy, what the hell just happened? Where's T.K.?"

"I... I don't know." Koushiro replied, trying frantically to double-check his calculation on his handheld PDA. "Something like that isn't possible."

"That's not good enough!" Yamato demanded. Before any more could be spoken by either Chosen, the small group suddenly found themselves on solid ground. They had arrived.

"What in the..." Sora spoke as they looked around, seeing that Taichi's worst fears had indeed been confirmed. The island, where their original Digimon adventure had began nearly a decade before, was in horrible shape. Many of the trees were blackened over with ash, the sand beneath their feet hardened into glass into various places. It was as if a violent battle was recently fought here.

"I can't hear them..." Mimi murmured, speaking for the first time in several minutes.

"Hear what, Mimi?" Yamato asked, still feeling frustrated over Takeru's disappearance. "I don't hear anything."

"That's just it, Matt!" the Child of Purity blurted out with tears beginning to well in her honey-brown eyes. "I can't hear them! The Digimon here are all gone!"

"I'm afraid Mimi's assumption is correct, guys." Koushiro confirmed, placing his PDA back into his pocket. "According to my portable Digimon Analyzer, there aren't any digital signs of life aside from our own partners."

"Neo did this." Taichi spoke, feelings of deep-seeded rage slowly creeping into his blood once more from both himself and Agumon's DigiSoul. "He used this place as a testbed for his force-reformatted Digimon." He leaned over and gripped a handful of charred sand, feeling the residue of the Digimon's data that was mixed with the granules. "They didn't even have a chance to escape."

"This is horrible." Biyomon piped up, echoing everyone's sentiments. "This was our home, too."

"We can't just let some wanna-be Machiavellian tyrant move in and blast everything." Tentomon added.

"What's a Machiavellian, Matt?" Gabumon asked his partner.

"It's kind of like a dictator who uses everything he can to keep himself in power." Yamato answered, grateful that his history lessons drilled into him during school paid off.

"It's only going to get worse from here." Taichi told them. "Neo's troops don't take prisoners, since he never programmed them to understand what it meant."

"Then it looks like we don't have a choice anymore." Sora said, pulling out a pair of familiar red gloves from her pocket. "We're going to have to fight."

The gloves were something she began to wear again in the last few months, when she had to fight a group of females in school who had spoken poorly about her friends. They learned to regret what they said. Since then, she made a personal promise to herself that the gloves would only come on in a serious situation. This was as serious as it would be.

"There is another option." Koushiro added. "We could attempt to seek out Gennai. Maybe there is something he can tell us."

"In that case, that should be our first priority." Yamato said. "Maybe he can help us find out what happened to T.K. also."

-------

Neo flexed his fists open and closed as he looked out over the vista near his citadel, his cold and empty eyes surveying the group that dared to breach his realm. Everything was proceeding as he had planned out, which was no surprise to the former Chosen Child. He HAD planned everything that happens under his watch. That is, until Taichi came and ruined everything for him.

It had happened eight years prior, before he allowed himself to embrace his dark calling. Neo was one of the best soccer players in his division, years before Ken Ichijoji would eventually secure the title. His team was unstoppable, moving across the field like liquid metal and dominating whatever team crossed their path. His team had only one more game to win the championship, one more game to keep his promise to his ailing sister, Rei.

Neo's eyes slightly softened at the memory of his sister, his fists closing tightly as he fought the feelings down into the cold pit that was once a heart. He had almost won that game but that would be ripped away from him in his first encounter with Taichi Kamiya...

(Flashback)

"...And the game goes to Odaiba as they make a surprising victory over Tokyo, six to five!" came the voice of the announcer as Neo stood in shock, the details sinking in of his first defeat. The game was his, every single move calculated down to each piece of footwork. It was all going perfectly... until HE showed up and ruined everything.

He glanced over to the boy they called Taichi, seeing the large-haired boy smile and join his friends in the celebration. How dare he savor the victory that was supposed to be his own? How dare he rip away the promise he made to Rei? How DARE he?!?

"Excuse me, are you Neo Saiba?" an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind him.

"What the hell do you want?" came Neo's cold reply. "I'm in no mood for autographs."

"My name is Silvia and I have a message from your mother about your sister, Rei Saiba." The stranger told him, a sympathetic look written on her face as she prepared to tell the silver-haired boy the bad news. "I'm sorry to tell you but... your sister died about four minutes ago."

Neo's eyes widened in shock as his mind digested the terrible information.

Rei...

...Died...

...Rei is dead...

He turned around, looking once more at the boy Taichi and his teammates, seeing the happy looks on their faces. He wasn't even aware that his legs started moving forward or the tears burning in his eyes, his senses numb with unshed grief.

"You..." Neo muttered, his eyes smoldering with rage and contempt at Taichi as the latter finally drew his attention. "...you..."

"Hey, no hard feelings?" he heard Taichi's voice ask him, his mind blocking out the sincere gesture of sportsmanship. "Your team played great."

"You... you killed her... you killed her..."

"Say what?" Taichi asked. Neo didn't even feel himself launch at the brown-haired leader of the Chosen, tackling him violently to the ground, the pain and rage blocking out everything else.

"YOU KILLED HER!!!" Neo heard himself shout as he began to punch his rival. "YOU KILLED MY SISTER!!!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, kid!" Taichi told him as his fellow teammates tried to pull the two apart.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Neo spat out as he tried to live up to such a threat, his eyes filled with restrained sorrow. "SHE WAS ALL I HAD LEFT AND YOU TOOK HER!!!"

"That's enough!" the voice of a security guard called out as he and several referees finally pulled the two boys apart, Neo struggling to murder the Chosen Child of Courage. He stared coldly at Taichi, seeing him helped up by a red-haired teammate, and ceased struggling as he spoke darkly to him.

"Mark my words, Taichi Kamiya, that I will have revenge for what you stole from me today. From now on, my only purpose in life is to see you dead."

As the security officers led him away, he could overhear Taichi's words to his friends.

"Who was that guy, Tai?"

"Beats me. Anyway, thanks for jumping in to help, Sora, even though I could've handled it."

"I'll bet you could've."

(End Flashback)

"Lord Neo." The voice of Askaraamon spoke, disturbing his reflection of those times. "The Chosen Children have arrived on File Island."

"I gave explicit instructions not to be disturbed, Askaraamon." he told the leather-clad Digimon.

"I apologize, master. I meant no disrespect." The smooth reply came. "Nevertheless, our forces stand ready to attack them at your command."

Neo's cold eyes rested on the Ultimate-level consort, one of the few in his force-reformatted legion he trusted. She was one of the few who retained her independence, desiring only to grow stronger in exchange for her loyalties to the silver-haired dictator. Within her, he saw nothing but a potential weapon, a means to enact his revenge on Taichi and a world that took his sister from him far too soon. Why she remained of her own free will was a question for another day, since she wasn't even his Digimon partner. That was a role belonging only to the strongest under his command.

"Are all of them present?" he asked the demonic female.

"Only six out of the original seven. The Child of Hope is not present."

"I see..." Neo then moved to his marble throne, allowing himself to relax onto the cool stone sculpture. "Tell them to wait for my orders. I have a different plan for Taichi and his trash Tamer allies."

"Yes, master."

-------

"I found it!" Koushiro called out, brushing the sand and dirt away from the holographic link Gennai had used when he contacted them during their first adventures. It had been a strange event, the elderly-appearing man talking to them so soon after their defeat of Devimon and his Black Gears. Yet without him, they would not have been able to find their crests, much less defeat Etemon or Myotismon later on. Now, to learn how to defeat Neo Saiba and the forces slowly destroying the world the swore to protect, they needed the former member of the ancient Order.

"Think you can get it to work, Izzy?" Yamato asked the Chosen Child.

"Of course. It should be a simple matter of reactivating the link through my PDA." With that, he immediately fished out the touchscreen device to connect it to the old holographic link. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently as massive bolts of energy shot from the sky to rain down on the group. The group of Chosen looked to see the rapidly-darkening clouds part to reveal hoards of various Digimon fly down, millions of red-tinged eyes glaring at them.

"I knew it was too easy." Taichi said as he unclipped his old digivice on instinct, feeling Agumon's DigiSoul burning inside of him for battle.

"Looks like we get to fight after all." Yamato added, not disagreeing with his friend for once. "Let's do it!" At once, all of the Chosen Children pulled out their digivices to fight the new enemy.

"Gabumon, warp digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!"

"Biyomon, digivolve to... Birdramon! Birdramon, digivolve to... Garudamon!"

"Tentomon, digivolve to... Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon, digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon"

"Palmon, digivolve to... Togemon! Togemon, digivolve to... Lilymon!"

"Gomamon, digivolve to... Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon, digivolve to... Zudomon!"

"Agumon, burst digivolve to... SoulGreymon!" Taichi heard the voice of his Digimon once again as he became the super-powered hybrid once again. As he stood with his friends, suddenly he felt a familiar chill run through his body. He had felt that feeling before only once, shortly before his return to his native Digital World and his friends on Earth.

"So... is THIS is the best Gennai and Azulongmon have to muster against me? How truly pathetic."

The shadow-draped Digimon parted as a figure drifted in front of them draped in black and grey, a face that made SoulGreymon only clench his fists in anger and bitter resentment.

"I see you still remember me, Taichi." the silver-haired young man said coolly to the Chosen leader. "I'm almost touched. Fortunately, I remember you and your trash Tamer allies all too well."

"What did you do with Kari, Neo?" SoulGreymon demanded. "Where is she? Tell me!"

"Don't assume you're in any position to make demands. As you can see, I still have the strategic advantage here in my domain... no, my KINGDOM. And this filthy piece of land you and these interlopers you call friends are standing is just the beginning."

"That's enough!" the Hybrid-type Digimon growled as he launched himself up towards his nemesis, his eyes flaring with power.

"Come on, guys!" Yamato called out, their Digimon partners preparing to attack the army of force-reformatted Digimon.

"Eliminate them, ShadowWraithmon." Neo commanded his army, letting them move like a unified liquid shadow from behind him towards the partners of the Chosen.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon shouted as he lauched several freezing missiles at the unknown Digimon. They moved as one out of the way and engulfed the cyborg Digimon as he was slammed into the ground.

"MetalGarurumon!" Yamato shouted.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon shouted, her fiery attack not burning through the Digimon but getting absorbed instead by them. She was wrapped into their shadows and thrown into the waters of the ocean below.

"Garudamon!" Sora cried out.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon shouted, the bolts of electricity merely being absorbed by the Digimon as he was also thrown into the waters below.

"Flower Cannon!" Lilymon shouted, her burst of energy bouncing back to her and stunning the plant Digimon as she slammed into the ground.

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon shouted as he threw his hammer to the ground, the bolts of kinetic energy bouncing off of the force-reformatted Digimon as they engulfed him. They squeezed him until his tough outer shell began to crack.

"Our Digimon!" Mimi screamed as she tried to run to her partner, not realizing that she was being held back by Jyou.

"They were completely decimated." Koushiro observed in shock. "Nothing we were able to do even slowed them down."

"This is just like when we had to fight Cryosismon." Yamato said as he glanced up, seeing that even Taichi was faring no better as SoulGreymon. "How can we even stop this clown?"

"Nova Drive!" SoulGreymon shouted as he tried to slice through the ShadowWraithmon. Yet even his claws couldn't stop them since they operated as a single group of living shadows. They took hold of him and brought him before Neo, a cold and unforgiving smile on his face.

"When I came to this world, I was blessed with the power of the Black DigiCore." Neo told him. "It gave me the intelligence and raw power I needed to transform this Digital World into my paradise for vengeance. Now, you can witness that power for yourself as I strip your friends from you." He held out a hand at the group of Chosen, surrounding them and their Digimon partners with a beam of energy.

"What's... what's happening to us?" Yamato asked. Suddenly, they felt themselves being split apart from each other, each Chosen and their partner pulled in several directions. They all screamed as the bean divided into six beams, each one moving into a direction away from File Island. Taichi could only watch in horror as he dedigivolved, still held by the ShadowWraithmon.

"What did you do to them, Neo?" Taichi demanded. Neo looked at his with dead gray eyes as he placed a hand onto the Chosen leader's forehead.

"I sent them to a fate worse then death, a fate that you too shall enjoy soon enough." He then backhanded the Child of Courage, knocking him unconscious as he laughed cruelly. The last words Taichi heard before slipping into darkness was a familiar phrase:

"And so... it begins..."

(End Part 7)


	9. Part 9

Part 8

(Author's Note: Thanks again, loyal readers, for all of the wonderful reviews. Really, I had no idea this story would become so popular. It took forever but I FINALLY managed to finish this chapter. From now on, I'll try to upload more frequently and not let writer's block stand in my way. Anyway, by request from Fury Cutter, another character from the V-Tamers manga will appear here. Also, the changes Sora had gone through between Seasons One and Two will finally be addressed here as well.)

Warmth seemed to embrace Sora from everywhere as she slowly returned to awareness, internally wincing as the dull pain rippled over her like an electric shock. Her body felt sluggish and unresponsive at first, as if waking from a deep but fitful sleep. She could remember being enveloped by a bright flash of light, her sense of consciousness slipping as she was ripped from her friends and Biyomon...

'Biyomon!' Sora thought as the revelation came to her. She tried to sit up, ignoring the pain shooting through her athletic frame, and found herself in surroundings that seemed somehow familiar. It was a room, the ruins of what used to be a laboratory. The light smell of dust was in the stale air of the dimly-lit chamber, as if the room was only used recently. Whomever brought her here must have only found it recently

"You feelin' better, kid?"

She slowly turned around and saw that the owner of the voice was not her partner Digimon but a large and somewhat battle-scarred blue dragon. The bearer of the Crest of Love did the only thing she could logically do at the moment.

She screamed.

"Hey, take it easy, kid." the dragon told her, making a show of cleaning out his ears with one of his claws. "You're gonna pop my eardrums if you keep screeching like that."

"Who are you?" Sora demanded as she tried to stand on her feet, fighting the feeling of vertigo that seemed to pound at her skull. "What do you do with my partner? If you hurt her..."

"Sora!" The amber-haired Chosen turned around, seeing the avian form of Biyomon sprint to her with a relieved smile. "I'm glad you're up and okay. Zeromaru brought us here after we crashed in the desert and took care of us."

"Zeromaru?"

"Yep, that's my name!" The large dragon-type Digimon told her as he straightened up proudly. "I'm Zeromaru, only the greatest Veedramon there ever was and one-half of the 'hundred-percent' combination!" His reptilian face fell as he notice that Sora and Biyomon began to giggle at the spectacle. "What? I got something stuck in my teeth?"

"It's just that... you remind me so much of my friend, Taichi." Reality then struck as Sora's mind recalled the events that led to her being here in the first place.

A battle...

Surrounded by a column of light...

Seeing Taichi captured by the ShadowWraithmon before being pulled away...

Taichi! He and the others were still out there!

"Listen, can you tell us where we are? I need to find a way to contact my friends."

"Well, we're in the old pyramid ruins on Server, if that's what you mean." Zeromaru told them. "I brought you here after I found you both knocked out in the desert."

Sora fell silent as Zeromaru's words registered in her mind, suddenly remembering the last time she had been this room. It had once been the laboratory belonging to Datamon, a Machine-type Digimon that wanted to use the red-haired Child of Love as a weapon against his enemy Etemon. Taichi had saved her life that day, conquering his own fears in the process and confirming her own fears as well: the fear that she was a liability in the long run. Fate seemed to be a comedian if it brought her here once more.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Biyomon asked her partner innocently. "You started to space out a little."

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about that last time we were in this place." She glanced down to the ground, banishing those memories to the back of her mind. Her friends were probably in danger. There wasn't time to stroll down Memory Lane. She then turned to Zeromaru.

"Say, you wouldn't know a shortcut out of this place, would you?"

"Sure thing, but you'll have to fly to get to it."

"All right, then." With that, Sora took out her Digivice and prepared to call on the power for Biyomon to evolve once again, hoping her Digimon was healed enough.

"Biyomon, digivolve to... Birdramon!"

Zeromaru then closed his eyes as he prepared to summon a great power from inside him. A golden glow filled with lines of Digital Code surrounded him as Sora and Biyomon remembered the last time they had seen that from a non-partnered Digimon. It meant they were about to evolve.

"Veedramon, digivolve to... AeroVeedramon!"

In place of Zeromaru was a much more powerful-looking dragon Digimon, an almost-cheesy grin plastered on it's face as he spread his leathery wings. He noticed Sora looking meaningfully at him, as if reminded of some pleasant memory from long ago.

"Well, what do ya think? My old partner, a human like you, let me use it to help him before he left."

"You had a partner?" Sora said with a smile as she mounted Birdramon.

"Yep. He's the other half of the 'hundred-percent' combination and one of my best friends, too."

"So what was his name? I might have met him before."

"His name was Tai." Zeromaru told them as they took flight into an empty hole in the ceiling, failing to see the look of shock in Sora's eyes or even the surveillance camera that recorded their movements.

--

The hot desert winds seemed to envelop the stranger as she stood tall still above the dunes, an icy look in her emerald-green eyes as she observed the pyramid ruins before her. The weather was of no concern of hers, already having grown used to it's harsh conditions during her training. Her only concern was the foreboding ruins before her and their contents, one of them containing her rival and her Digimon partner.

Alexis Yokinawa hated Sora passionately ever since meeting her on the soccer field years before. To the blonde-haired woman, she represented weakness in it's purest form. She had given up what she was, from what she remembered learning about the Chosen Child of Love, to become a pathetic shell of herself. She had thrown away everything she was to be like those unlike her; to belong for the sake of the unworthy.

It made her sick to her stomach.

"Alexis, sugah?" She was shaken from her thoughts by the drawl of her Digimon partner, Rosemon. "Ya think we've been here long enough? All this sun is just makin' ma petals droop."

"Don't concern yourself, Rosemon." Alexis coolly replied, internally wondering how she got stuck with such a vain Digimon. "We'll be finished here soon enough." Suddenly, the ground shook as the top of one of the pyramids exploded, two figures emerging from the area to soar high above. Alexis smiled to herself darkly, knowing that one of the shapes belonged to her rival.

"It's them, just like Neo warned us." She whipped out a Digivice, an older model similar to the ones brandished by Taichi's group, and wrapped her desert cloak around herself. "It's time, Rosemon. You know what to do."

--

"So your partner's named Tai?" Sora asked Zeromaru as they flew upward, away from what was left of Datamon's old lair.

"Yep." the dragon-type Digimon replied. "He helped me out when Neo first showed up on Server trying to destroy the Digimon here. Between the two of us, we gave that loudmouth a headache he won't forget anytime soon." He turned towards the red-haired athlete, seeing a look of reflection on her face. "Say, he's got the same name as your friend. You think they're related?"

"Maybe..." Sora gripped Birdramon's feathers as thoughts raced through her mind. Why would Taichi keep something like this a secret? What on earth did he go though in those five years? Just what was her friend refusing to tell her?

"Forbidden Temptation!"

"Look out!" Birdramon shouted as she and Zeromaru dodged the pink burst of energy, Sora shaken from her reverie as she held onto her partner for dear life. The Champion-level avian turned her head slightly, grateful to see her partner still there. Suddenly, a thorn-studded whip snaked out of nowhere, forcing the duo to fall once more to the desert floor.

"Hey, are you..." Zeromaru started to say until he found himself wrapped in the same whip. He immediately recognized the floral scent of it's owner, unmistakable among the many Digimon he had encountered.

"Remember me, Zero baby?" The seductive voice of Rosemon cooed from behind the Ultimate-level Digimon, a smile on her face as she gripped her whip tight. "I've missed ya."

"The feeling... isn't mutual, Rosemon." Zeromaru growled under his breath as he fought to free himself from the Mega-level Digimon's vines, angry that he was caught so quickly off guard. "What's wrong? Couldn't find any more data to leech off of?"

"Zeromaru!" Birdramon called as she flew upward to aid the struggling dragon-type Digimon, leaving Sora behind on the desert floor to watch.

"Be careful, Birdramon!" Sora told her partner from below, rising to her feet and gripping her Digivice tightly just in case. She then turned around to see a figure standing to the side, the auburn-colored desert cloak hiding her form except for her cold green eyes. Sora's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she felt those eyes bore holes into her, as if studying her like a lab subject.

"You always did show signs of weakness by pretending to care, Sora Takenouchi." the figure said as she moved closer. "But, then again, being a pretender is all you ever were."

"Who are you?" the Child of Love demanded, feeling a bit unnerved that someone would say words like that as if they knew her. The figure began to smile coldly as she came closer, letting Sora's own resin-colored eyes widen in stark recognition.

"...Alexis?"

--

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon shouted as she launched several fireballs from her wings at Rosemon, trying not to hit Zeromaru. Rosemon gracefully moved behind the immobile AeroVeedramon, using his body as a shield to deflect the attack.

"Awww, looks like ya missed me, sugah." Rosemon drawled mockingly as she stroked Zeromaru's jawline. "But ya didn't miss Zero, did ya?" She leaned in closer to the dragon-type Digimon, smiling as she noticed that he was no longer struggling in the confines of her vines.

"What have you done to him?" Birdramon demanded as she kept her distance, wary of any tricks the Mega-level Digimon might be planning.

"Oh, not much now that he's mine thanks to my Thorn Whip." She then turned her attention to Zeromaru, his body beginning to glow with a dark light. "It turns any male Digimon into my slave. Doesn't it, Zero baby?"

"I'm... I'm sorry, Birdramon..." Zeromaru managed to growl as the vines finally fell away, a red glow overshadowing his eyes as he fought the urge to rip her apart. "I... can't control it..." The dragon-type roared as he began to change, the viral influence overwriting his digital DNA. He grew in size until the glow faded, revealing a Digimon that neither Birdramon or Sora wanted to ever fight. He had become Imperialdramon Zero.

Below, Sora stood in shock as the newly-digivolved Zeromaru glared downward at her, no longer having the confidence or friendliness in his eyes he possessed earlier. His armor was totally black and silver, unlike the Imperialdramon Daisuke and Ken were masters of, and his eyes were now glazed blood-red with hatred. Alexis only smiled, knowing that her plan succeeded flawlessly.

"You've done well, Rosemon." Alexis called to her partner. "Zeromaru is under our command now."

"What?" Sora said in surprise. "That Digimon is your partner?"

"Of course she's my partner," Alexis replied smoothly, "and with the power of Imperialdramon, we'll stomp little weaklings like you into the ground."

"What's wrong with you?" Sora told the blonde, seeing the same attitude in her eyes that Ken had possessed when he was still the Digimon Kaiser. "You think this is a game or something? You can't just use Digimon as weapons or toys. They're living creatures!"

"Enough chit-chat. It's clear that you still don't understand anything about anything so I won't waste my breath." She was about to turn away when she felt Sora's hand touch her shoulder, as if to still convince her of her wrongdoings. Who was she, of ALL people, to think she could stop her?

"I won't let you do this, Alexis." Sora said. "This has to stop." Her reply was the feeling of the blonde's fist colliding with her face, making the Chosen Child of Love see stars as she fell to the desert floor.

"Spare me you weak sentiments, Takenouchi!" Alexis spat, the words laced with venom. "The last thing I need is for a hypocrite like YOU to tell me anything about my actions." She then turned upward to Rosemon, who was sitting gracefully on Zeromaru's back cannon as if it were a throne. "Rosemon, use Imperialdramon's power and turn that weakling into fried chicken!"

"You heard her, Zero baby." Rosemon told the giant Mesa as she whipped out another Thorn Whip, wrapping around Zeromaru's neck like a dog leash. "Let's get ta work!"

"Positron Laser!" The Digimon formerly known as Zeromaru growled as he unleashed a black beam of energy at Birdramon from his cannon, narrowly missing her. He felt something familiar, telling him that the bird-type Champion was not his enemy, that instead it was the Mesa that shackled him with her vines that he should fight. Yet, he couldn't resist the calling to destroy, to obliterate.

Sora meanwhile glanced upward once more as she rubbed the side of her face, still sore from Alexis's unexpected punch. This was getting out of hand and they were running out of time. She then looked at her hands, remembering the red gloves she had returned to wearing. She didn't like the alternative, but the scarlet-haired woman knew what she and her partner must do. They would have to do the impossible and stop Imperialdramon.

"Birdramon, you have to stop them and snap Zeromaru out of it!" Sora called out as her Digimon tried to stay clear of Imperialdramon's attack, her Digivice taking on the familiar glow of evolution power. A crimson beam of light embraced Birdramon as she was filled with Sora's energy, giving her the strength to evolve once more.

"Birdramon, digivolve to... Garudamon!"

Alexis smiled to herself as she witnessed the flight of the bird-woman towards her partner and the captured Zeromaru, seeing that the red-haired Chosen was finally putting up a fight. All of the pieces were falling into place. She was suddenly twisted around by Sora, whose amber eyes were now filled with anger.

"Call them off, Alexis." Sora told the woman. "I'm not asking you again."

"And I won't tell YOU again that I don't need lectures from a hypocrite like you!" Alexis then fully faced the athletic Child of Love, disgust beginning to cement in her mind. "You claim to be the Chosen Child of Love but you don't love anyone but yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

--

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon shouted, the familiar firebird lighting the skies as it soared to strike the two Digimon. The attack merely bounced off of Imperialdramon's armor, making the supercharged Mesa growl even louder.

"You betta save that firepower, sugah." Rosemon said as she glowed pink. "I'll handle this overgrown buzzard. Forbidden Temptation!" A wave of hot-pink energy burst forth from her body, slamming into Garudamon. She then whipped out one of her vines, snapping it around the Ultimate-level Digimon's neck as she tried to choke her.

"I... won't let you... do this... to Zeromaru!" Garudamon bravely said as she tried to pull the vines off of her neck.

"That a fact, honey?" Rosemon mocked. "Well, I'd be more worried about maself if I was you." She ripped the whip from the weaker Digimon's neck, flecks of data and feathers coming with it. Garudamon clenched her fists tightly as she summoned all of her strength to go against the two Megas. Playtime was over.

--

"I know all about you, Takenouchi." Alexis told the auburn-haired woman. "I know that you quit soccer just to please your mother. You could've been on the Olympic team if you wanted to but you took up tennis, a SAFER sport." She began to walk closer to Sora, satisfied that some recognition started to show in her eyes. "You buried your own desires, your INDIVIDUALITY, to please a mother who didn't even understand you and a father who wasn't even there half the time. You stopped coming to the Digital World and only came back when your Digimon was beaten senseless by the Kaiser's minions."

"I don't know who you think you are but I'm not going to stand here and let you talk down to me." Sora told the blonde as she tried to stay calm, trying to force herself not to admit that the other Digidestined was right. "You don't know a fucking thing about me so just back off!"

"Really? Then let's talk about how you strung along your friends, Taichi and Yamato." Alexis was now face to face with her opponent, seeing the internal struggle being waged in Sora's eyes. "Taichi was your closest friend. He was willing to give up everything to help you be happy. So what did you do? You show your gratitude by crushing his feelings for the sake of a guy you barely had anything in common with."

"That's not true!" Sora retorted. "Tai's my friend and so is Matt! It's just that..." Realization finally dawned on her as she started to piece together what Alexis was referring to. Although the blonde was telling the truth, she had convinced herself for years that it was all her decision, that becoming who she was now was just a part of growing up. That being an adult meant she had to leave the whims of her childhood nature behind.

But she was wrong.

The Sora she used to be and the Sora she was now were two totally different people.

A loud explosion shattered the tenseness between the two women as Sora looked up in horror, seeing that Garudamon had reverted to Biyomon and was falling to the sand dunes below. Above, Rosemon smirked as she and Imperialdramon remained in the skies, steam coming from the dragon-type Mega's back cannon as he snarled.

"Biyomon!" Sora shouted as she scrambled to her feet and raced across the sand, trying to block out the hurtful words from her adversary and focus on the fate of her partner. She finally climbed over a sand dune and saw the prone form of Biyomon lying in a crater, the impact turning some of the nearby sand into glass.

"...Sora..." Biyomon moaned as she struggled to get up, her energy all but exhausted and her body weakened from battling the two powerful Mega Digimon. Most of her feathers was charred, her beak showing hairline cracks. Yet her bright-blue eyes remained strong with the determination to protect her partner.

"It's okay." Sora told her as she gently cradled the injured bird Rookie, the scathing words coming back to haunt the redhead as she remembered seeing her Digimon like this before, beaten nearly to death after an assault by a Starmon under the Digimon Kaiser's control. The image was engraved permanently in her memory, something she never wanted to see again. Yet here she was. Fate must be having a field day with the Child of Love.

"You see the damage you've caused now?" the voice of Alexis spoke condescendingly as she was set down by Rosemon, who now hovered over them with Imperialdramon Zero. "Your Digimon could've been much stronger that she was. But when a Digimon of Love is in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to love, all she can do is fade away."

"Sora... don't believe her..." the crippled avian managed to choke out. "You... you DO know how to love... or you wouldn't be here with me... Your mom and dad... all your friends... they love you just as much."

"Don't try to talk. Just try to hold on." Sora's eyes widened as she saw flecks of data coming from various places on the pink Rookie's body. She was dying and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Sora... I love you..." Biyomon gasped one last time as she looked into her partner's eyes, seeing the sorrow written there as tears began to run down her face. The Rookie Digimon felt the cold fingers of death slip over her as she closed her eyes once more, not hearing the painful wail of the Chosen Child of Love's voice as she faded into millons of data pieces.

"BIYOMON!!" Sora screamed as her digivice overloaded, the tiny LCD screen shattering as it exploded with a powerful burst of red energy. It embraced her being with an almost soothing fire amist the grief she felt over losing her partner, shielding her from Alexis and the two Mega Digimon.

"What... what the hell is that?" Alexis spoke, speechless as she never knew a Chosen Child could summon this much power.

--

All was silent the the empty but energy-filled area as Sora sobbed into her hands, feeling helpless for only the second time in her life. Her Digimon partner, Biyomon, was gone and she was responsible for it. If she was stronger, or if she were a better friend to her...

"You're wrong, Sora!"

She looked up only to see what must have been only an illusion in front of her. She wore the same familiar blue hat, the same familiar red gloves, and the same outfit from her first adventure in the Digital World. There was no mistaking it. The young girl before her WAS her.

"You're just going to sit there and listen to that creep?" the younger Sora told the older redhead. "I thought you were stronger than that."

"I... I don't know anymore." Sora said quietly as she looked at her hands. "I tried so hard to be what everyone thinks I should be and it just flies back into my face. Biyomon believed in me and when she needed me the most... I let her down!" As she began to sob in her hands again, she felt the younger girl's hand rest on her shoulder.

"Biyomon was willing to put her life on the line to protect you." Young Sora said gently. "She's your partner. It comes with the job. As for quitting soccer, you wanted our mom to stop worrying about your safety. Still, she knows that you have to do what's right for you and trusts you to make the right choice for yourself, NOT for herself. They do it because they love you, Sora. They can feel it from you."

(Flashback)

"I think I felt something. I think it was Sora's love shining through."

(End Flashback)

"Tai felt it back then." the younger Sora continued. "Matt and the others feel it now. Are you going to just let them down when they need you? They're counting on you, Sora."

"...You're right." Sora said as she looked at her younger self, feeling as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "I've been a dummy all this time. If Biyomon can still believe in me, even when I'm at my weakest, then I can believe in myself. I do know how to love... because I have my family and friends' love!" A golden light surrounded the two as Sora felt herself become filled with a powerful energy. As the light encompassed her, she heard one last familiar phrase:

"'Atta girl. I knew you'd come back to yourself..."

The energy flowed through the Child of Love, washing over her as she felt Biyomon's presence with her. It was as if she had not been destroyed but rather transformed, helping her evolve and change as well.

"Biyomon, burst digivolve to..." Sora heard the voice of her Digimon say as her transformation began. She felt herself become taller, more statueque as her hair grew longer and more vibrant. Her clothes metamorphosed into Roman-style battle armor, Digizoid gauntlets gracing her arms and her breastplate engraved with the Crest of Love. She felt light feathers grow onto her skin as a avian-inspired helmet covered her eyes, completing the transformation.

She was no longer Sora Takenouchi.

She was beyond Biyomon.

She had become...

"JetGarudamon!!"

--

As the light began to fade, the new Hybrid-type called JetGarudamon stood in place of Sora and Biyomon. By shedding her own shortcomings, Sora had shared her essence with her partner and underwent Bio-Fusion, becoming stronger than ever before. This was something completely unexpected by Alexis.

"What the... How is this even possible?" Alexis muttered as she flexed her fists. "There was no record of a Chosen Child having this level of power. There's just no way." She glanced upward, seeing that Rosemon was starting to look nervous from the power she sensed from the new Digimon. If it could possibly frighten a Mega...

No! She won't lose!

"Rosemon! Destroy her!" Alexis commanded.

"Sure thang!" Rosemon produced a long sword from the vines on her arm as she flew downward toward JetGarudamon, who was standing stone-still in the impact crater made by Biyomon. "Rose Rapier!" she shouted as she tried to lash out at the Hybrid-type...

...Until a gauntlet-covered hand grabbed her weapon in mid-strike!

"You have caused enough trouble here today, Rosemon." JetGarudamon said in a calm voice. "For aiding the corruption of an innocent Digimon, for the death of a sweet and brave soul, I will show you no mercy." She then ripped the sword out of the other Digimon's hands and punched her, sending the plant-type rocketing into the sky. She then launched herself after her opponent, seeing that Rosemon wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"I don't know what'cha are but ya goin' down, sugah!" Rosemon angrily said as she began to glow hot-pink. "Forbidden Temptation!" The flash of energy was blocked by the gauntlets on the Hybrid-type's arms as she charged forward, overcoming the destructive force and grabbing Rosemon by her shoulder.

"My turn." JetGarudamon said as she punched the Mega Digimon once more, forcing her to crash into the sandy surface below. She then began to glow orange-red as she again crossed her arms and fiery wings branched out from her back, giving her almost the appearance of an archangel of death as energy crossbows formed on her gauntlets. This attack would end this insanity once and for all.

"Phoenix Crossbow!"

Rosemon screamed as she was enveloped by an assault of fire-laced arrows, the nearby sand transforming into glass from the intense heat. She was surrounded by strands of digital code as she de-digivolved into an unconscious Floramon, Alexis merely standing in silent anger as JetGarudamon landed next to both of them.

"How could I lose..." Alexis muttered as she knelt in the sand next to her fallen partner. "...How could I lose to a hypocrite like you... No! I don't accept this fate!" She turned venomously toward the Hybrid-type Digimon, a bitter look in her eyes. "I won't lose to you again, Sora Takenouchi. Not again." She tapped a button on her digivice, a beam of light surrounding her and Floramon with digital code. When it faded, the only evidence of their existence was the crater made by Rosemon's defeat.

JetGarudamon sighed in resignation as she reverted back to Sora and suddenly heard a thunderous roar from above her. She looked up and saw that Imperialdramon Zero was howling in pain, streams of black data coming out of his body. The giant dragon was enclosed in a data sphere as he reverted to AeroVeedramon, the last of Rosemon's influence finally fading from his body.

"Man, that's something I never wanna go through again." Zeromaru said to himself as he landed in front of Sora, seeing a solemn look on her face and realizing what had just happened. When he also noticed that Biyomon was absent, the truth began to sink in.

"How do you feel, Zeromaru?" Sora asked.

"Lousy. I can't believe I let that witch take over my mind like that." Zeromaru looked away from the red-haired Chosen, guilt over his actions flooding his senses. "I'm sorry about this, Sora. I never wanted to hurt you or your partner." He expected her to be furious over Biyomon's death, blaming him for all of it as well as Alexis and Rosemon. Yet, to the dragon-type Digimon's surprise, she laid a gentle hand on his arm.

"It's all right. Rosemon was the one controlling you so don't blame yourself." She smiled slightly, remembering a few times when friends of the group's such as Leomon and Digitamamon were controlled by evil yet set free from it. She couldn't hold the AeroVeedramon responsible for something that was never his fault.

"Listen, I gotta make it up to you somehow." Zeromaru offered. "How about I take you to find the rest of your buddies?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Sure. It's the least I can do for helping me out. 'Sides, if your Tai is the same as my friend, it'd be great to see him and clean Neo's clock." He turned around and offered him his back to ride on, an optimistic grin once more plastered on his face. "So what do you say? Is it a deal?"

Sora's only reply was to climb on his back with a equally-optimistic smile. As they took off and started to leave the fury of Server's desert behind, Sora reflected to Biyomon's sacrifice and the words her younger self had told her. Her Digimon gave up her life because she believed in Sora's ability to love. She wouldn't let her or her friends down by doubting herself again. It was the first time in years the Chosen of Love felt like her old self again.

'Hang on, Tai...' Sora though to herself as she looked out over the horizon, a look of familiar determination in her amber-colored eyes. 'I'm on my way...'

(End Part 8)


	10. Part 10

Part 10

Author's Note: I am SOOOOOOO sorry this took so long to get out but real life kept getting in the way (Sometimes, I HATE being an adult.) Anyways, this chapter revolves around Matt, for a change, and involves an incident mention on the Drama CDs.

It almost seemed too good to be true.

The lone figure watched the multiple monitors in from of him in vague amusement, a smile beginning to creep onto his face as he reflected on how hew would treat his new toys. He was almost bored to tears here in his solitude, musing over how Neo warned him about the impending threat of the so-called Chosen Children. They couldn't be THAT powerful, since they needed successors to help defend this broken and worn-out shell of a world. Even so, having one of them as his prisoner to play with, especially one that was his own enemy...

Shinji Kawamori had a passion for music once. It was his escape from his mundane and bitter existence, even to a point of being like a religion to him. He even found friends through it and helped to start a band to show the world just how talented he truly was. That is, until HE came along and stole the spotlight from him.

The young man flexed his hands as he continued watching his new playthings on the screens, eagerly anticipating the moment when they would awaken and the 'games' would begin. Soon, he would have his revenge for crushing his dreams. He would be the first to pay for that sin.

"You summoned me, Shinji?" The pale-skinned youth turned around to see the imposing figure of his partner, BlackOmnimon, standing patiently behind him. He was fortunate enough to receive the force-reformatted Mega as his partner, it being one of Neo's early experiments. The former Royal Knight was suprisingly loyal, yet his honor prevented it from unleashing the full fury of it's power. Today, both of them would be vindicated.

"Our guests will awaken soon." Shinji told the Mega Digimon. "I want you to be at your best when you meet them. I expect nothing less than a textbook battle from you."

"I shall give nothing less, sir." BlackOmnimon replied in it's dual-sounding voice. "I will, at the least, allow them to die with their honor intact."

"Good. Now get going." With that, he let his partner leave as he returned to the monitors, a sadistic smile on his face as he contemplated the perfect ironic punishment for his latest victim, Yamato Ishida.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"...Matt..."

"...Matt, wake up..."

Yamato stirred as he forced his eyes to open, nearly blided by the light as he tried his best to focus. He nearly jumped in surprise as he finally noticed the face of his partner, Gabumon, standing over him in concern.

"Wha... what hit us?" Yamato managed to utter as he looked around, realizing that they were no longer on File Island but in a small room. There was no door, no windows, no way to tell if they were above ground or even still in the Digital World. In other words, a perfect prison.

"I'm not sure." the dog/lizard Digimon replied. "One minute, we were helping Tai and the others fight those shadowy Digimon, and the next we're here."

'Wherever here is.' Yamato thought ruefully as he tried to stand up, fighting off the brief sense of vertigo thet swept through his head like a ocean wave. As he finally rose to his feet, he looked around his new enviroment for anything that could be a telltale sign of an exit. A seam or crack in the smooth surface of the walls...

"Don't waste your time, Yamato." a voice echoed from all around him from unseen speakers in the room. "You can only leave this chamber when I say so, not a moment sooner."

"Who are you?" Yamato demanded as he continued to look around for an escape route. "Why did you put us in here?" His only reply was a condescending laugh from the still-invisible speaker.

"Since you obviously don't remember my voice, I think I'll give you and your Digimon partner a little reminder." Suddenly, a door panel opened on a nearby wall, the only opening in an otherwise blank enviroment. "Let's play a little game, shall we? Beyond this door is the entrance to a maze. Survive it and you can go free."

"Okay, so what if I'm not in the mood to play some stupid game?" Yamato retorted, feeling more agitated by the second at being someone's toy. It brought back memories of being manipulated by Puppetmon and Cherrymon into betraying his friends many years before. He was NOT going to put himself through that again.

"Matt, look!" Gabumon called to him. The door slammed shut as a whitish vapor began filling the room from unseen air vents.

"Well, you and your little friend can always suffer in soon-to-be silence." the voice said, laughing mockingly as both Chosen and Digimon of Friendship began to cough. "This gas is my own blend of bleach and ammonia, extremely poisonous if in a concentrated area for a long enough time. But since you aren't going to be around long enough to muse on that little anecdote..."

"All right!" Yamato managed to choke out before falling to his knees, his eyes stinging with tears as he fought to remain conscious. "All right, damnit! We'll... We'll do it! We'll play your stupid game!"

"Excellent. I'm glad we could agree." The whitish vapor was sucked away as quickly as it came as the unseen door once more opened, the two Chosen of Friendship slowly finding their breath. Yamato stumbled to his partner, the side effects of the vapor starting to fade.

"You... You okay, Gabumon?" Yamato asked the Rookie. A nod was his only reply as they got to their feet and started to the open doorway.

"You have twenty minutes to reach the end of my little maze." the voice echoed over the still-unseen speakers. "Succeed you can go free. Fail and... Well, let's just hope that you don't fail." Light panels illuminated the pathway before them as the voice finally fell silent, a mocking laugh ringing in Yamato's ears as he felt fury burn in his ice-blue eyes. They were being manipulated again, just like before.

"Come on, Gabumon." the blonde told his friend as they made their way into the maze, unaware of the cameras that watched their every move.

"I smell Digimon." Gabumon said after a minute. "It's close."

"Just be careful." Yamato reminded the Rookie dog/lizard. "Whomever this joker is, he's probably got traps or something to trip us up." Suddenly, a nearby wall burst open, a group of ghost-like Bakemon spilling out of the hole.

"I knew it!" Yamato said as he gripped his digivice and twisted around, seeing that the way back was now blocked by a wall of fire. "I knew this was a setup!" He pointed his digivice at Gabumon, hoping his friend had enough energy to digivolve and end this quickly.

"Gabumon, digivolve to... Garurumon!"

"Ghost Claw!" many of the Bakemon called out as they started to attack the duo, their ectoplasmic hands trying to strick the Champion-level wolf. Garurumon, like his partner, was NOT in the mood to deal with them right now.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon shouted as his attack tore through the majority of the Bakemon blocking their path. He then gestured to Yamato to climb on his back.

"Thanks, buddy." Yamato said in gratitude to his canine partner.

"Hold on tight!" Garurumon growled back as he raced forward, using his powerful paws to tackle the remaining Bakemon or knock them aside. Yamato held on to his partner's back fur tightly as they finally reached the end of the long hallway, turning back briefly to see as the wall of fire started to consume the ghostly Digimon, their wails assaulting their ears as they were deleted.

"That was... fun." Yamato quipped as he got off of Garurumon's back, seeing that they had come to a dead end. The moment of rest was interrupted by the sound of clapping over the unseen speakers.

"Well done, Yamato." the condescending voice spoke. "You passed Level One. But that was just the beginning. In front of you is an door locked with a musical puzzle. Solve it and you can pass. But since you are SUPPOSED to be a musician, this shouldn't be too hard... if you ARE as talented as they claim."

"When I get my hands on whomever making us go through this..." Yamato said bitterly as he flexed his hands open and closed. Garurumon could sense his partner's anger and nudged him gently.

"It's okay, Matt." the wolf Digimon rasped. "Let's just get this over with so we can get back to the others."

"Right." As the duo approached the door, they noticed a large doorway with a rather sophisticated lock and three odd-shaped keys hanging next to it. They were each labeled "A", "B", "C" Only one of them would open the doorway while the others were probably traps of some kind.

"Which one do you think it is, Matt?" Garurumon asked the blonde.

"I'm not sure. Izzy was always the one who could figure this stuff out." Yamato touched one of the strange keys labled "B" and, as he inserted it, he was rewarded with a strong electric shock.

"AAAHHHH!!!" Yamato screamed as he was sent flying back, slamming into a wall as the unknown voice laughed mockingly over the speakers.

"Matt!" Garurumon shouted as the large canine Digimon watched his partner slowly rise back to his feet, his clothes slightly burned but otherwise none the worse for wear.

"Okay, let's try that again." Yamato said almost half-jokingly as he looked at the odd keys again. He was about to grab the one labeled "A" when he suddenly realized why he had been shocked before. This was familiar now to him... TOO familiar.

"What's wrong, Matt?" Garurumon asked in his growling voice as he watched his friend grab the "C" key from the wall and lean against it.

"Get ready, Garurumon, just in case." Yamato said. With a ready nod from the wolf-like Champion, he inserted the key and was rewarded this time with an opening door and a familiar-sounding melody. The blonde Chosen Child of Friendship looked inside the corridor and was somewhat relieved that it was empty. Yet the only other sound was the almost-condescending clapping of the unseen voice from before.

"Well done, Yamato, yet again." the speaker spoke, obviously enjoying seeing the two pushed this far. "I've got to hand it to you. You have at least ONE working brain cell underneath that mop you call hair."

"That's it!" Yamato exclaimed, already fed up with how things had been going. "I'm getting pretty damn fed up with this stupid game of yours! So come out already and fight like a man!"

"You have the nerve to call ME a coward after the way you and everyone else treated me?" said the voice in a dark tone. "Well, assuming you solve the rest of my puzzle, you can face me and we'll see who is really the man and who's... well... worm meat."

Yamato slammed his fist into a nearby wall, furious at whomever this guy was to toy with both of them in this way. Who the hell did he think he was? He then heard the sound of the melody playing in the hallway, a distant memory crawling up to the surface like an earthwork through fresh dirt. The song... so familiar...

"Hey, I remember this song." Garurumon growled. "It's the one we tap-danced to so we could save Sora and the others a while back. Remember, Matt?"

"Yeah. I almost forgot about that." Yamato replied, the memory seeming like a dream from long ago. A Boltmon had kidnapped Sora, Mimi, and Yolei to understand the meaning of love and Matt, being the only other Digidestined who was available at the time, went to the Digital World to rescue them. Though he had felt embarassed that he and Gabumon had to dance to convince the Mega-level Digimon to release the girls, it was his impromptu confession of love to Sora that helped to defeat it and get them home.

Sora...

They HAD to escape this insanity of a maze and get back to the others somehow.

"I think I know where to go from here, Garurumon." Yamato said. No sooner had the words left his lips than one of walls caved in, revealing a MetalTyrannomon standing in their way. He grabbed his digivice tightly, not wanting to waste any more time with this nonsense.

"Digivolve, Garurumon!"

"Garurumon, digivolve to... WereGarurumon!"

"Nuclear..." MetalTyrannomon started to say as the werewolf Digimon picked up his partner under one arm. If that Digimon let off his attack in close quarters...

"Hang on, Matt!" WereGarurumon growled as he raced down the corridor, glad that the Digital Gods gave him incredible speed as an Ultimate-level.

"...LASER!!!" the cyborg Digimon finished as a shockwave of green fire charged behind the two Chosen of Friendship. Yamato looked ahead to finally see a light at the end of the hallway, yet his relief was short-lived as his partner gripped him tight and burst through the open passage. He heard WereGarurumon howl in pain as he was hit by the semi-radioactive attack, the blonde getting thrown clear of his friend's grip.

WereGarurumon looked back and saw MetalTyrannomon careening out of the tight corridor, bringing most of the structure down with him as he tried to lock onto the Ultimate-level Digimon with his guidance systems.

"Stay back, Matt." he told his partner. "This is going to get ugly." With a nod from the young man, his canine eyes glared back at his foe. It was time to go to work.

"Inferno Blast!" MetalTyrannomon shouted as he tried to use the fire from his open palms like a flamethrower. WereGarurumon dodged left and right as he searched for his opening, remembering hearing something about the cyborg dinosaur having a weak spot. Suddenly, he noticed a bare patch of exposed skin on the underside of the beast.

'That's it!' the half-wolf Digimon thought as he prepared his claws to attack. He charged forward and sunk one of his claws underneath the Digizoid plating, hearing the Ultimate-level Virus Digimon roar in rage as well as pain.

"Wolf Claw!" WereGarurumon shouted as he slashed into the Digimon's underside, the dangerous foe reeling back in pain as it collapsed in defeat before decompiling into data.

"That was... you did good, WereGarurumon." Yamato said to his friend, never having been comfortable at showing gratitude to anyone. His reply was a weary thumbs-up from the Digimon with a grin. The two suddenly found themselves underneath several spotlights as the area was illuminated, exposing where the DarkTyrannomon had forced them to end up. It was a familiar-looking colosseum, long since beginning to decay from untold years of neglect. In the center of what was once an ampitheather for the sport of combat was a stage.

"It took you long enough, Yamato." the figure standing in the shadows of the stage spoke with a sense of loathing. "I was beginning to get bored."

"That voice..." Yamato mused as he tried to remember where he had heard the condescending tone before. Then it hit him like a bolt of lightning. "...Shinji? Shinji Kawamori? You're the one behind this?"

"Not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, are we? But at least you win the chance to finally prove who is REALLY the coward here." he stepped forward, letting Yamato see the madness in the young man's eyes. His steel-blue eyes were glazed over as he looked down at the two, almost as if he was bored to tears just to look at them.

"Now I'm beginning to understand what's going on here." Yamato stated. "The whole maze was just a distraction so you could set all this up. Those Digimon back there were a way of testing to see how strong we were and, if I'm guessing right, you used that melody in the last one as a blatant clue since it was one of the first songs we did as the Teenage Wolves."

"Bravo." Shinji told him coldly. "It was also the only time I ever played with your so-called band. I should've been the one at those concerts, NOT you. I should be the one getting all those recording deals and licenses. I should be the one fangirls worship like a freakin' god. ME, NOT YOU!!!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Yamato replied, somehow feeling like he was trapped in someone else's bad idea of a fanfiction somewhere. Enough was enough. "Come on, WereGarurumon. Let's get out of here."

"Not so fast." Shinji unstrapped his digivice from an armband, not willing to let his victory slip away when it was so close.. "I have a surprise for you since you came all this way." Suddenly, a large figure swooped out of nowhere, throwing Yamato and his partner off guard. The two stood in shock as they saw in front of them...

"...Omnimon?" Yamato said, puzzled at how the Royal Knight could even be here without his Digimon fusing with Tai's WarGreymon. Shinji merely looked at the spectacle and laughed.

"Surprised to see one of the Digital World's most powerful Digimon at my disposal, Yamato?" Shinji said in a condescending tone. "Well, be prepared to get better aquainted with BlackOmnimon's power as he uses it to crush you."

"Consider it done, sire." The Mega-level shadow of the one-time Internet legend pointed his cannon at the two Chosen of Friendship as Yamato gripped his digivice. It was now or never.

"WereGarurumon, digivolve to... Metalgarurumon!"

The blonde felt himself pushed out of the way just as BlackOmnimon fired his Garuru Cannon, almost ending his life. He looked to see MetalGarurumon charge the Mega Digimon, the metallic skin of the Cyborg-type gleaming in the artificial lighting. Yamato looked back to see Shinji laughing insanely as the two Digimon began their battle, an twisted grin on his youthful face.

"What the hell is so funny?" Yamato spoke, already bitter at the torment he and his partner had to endure so far. Shinji merely looked down at the Chosen Child from the stage.

"Don't you at least find it a little ironic that we're on opposing sides AGAIN, Yamato?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"Supreme Cannon!" BlackOmnimon shouted as he fired a powerful blast of energy at MetalGarurumon, almost pleased that the Cyborg-type was lasting so long against him. It had been a long time since any Digimon provided any sort of challenge for him. It would make his eventual victory all the better.

"Give it up!" MetalGarurumon growled as he jumped and dodged out of the former Royal Knight's line of fire. "I'm too fast for you. Metal Wolf Cl-" Before he could launch his attack, the cyborg wolf was slammed aside by the brunt of BlackOmnimon's sword.

"I'm afraid that was not fast enough, my agile friend." BlackOmnimon said calmly as he charged at the Mega Digimon. "Transcendant Sword!"

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Yamato heard a painful yelp as he turned around, the sound he recognized immediately as MetalGarurumon in pain. Before he could run to his partner's aid, he was yanked back by Shinji.

"Not so fast." Shinji said as he twisted the blonde Chosen around. "Is this how you treat an old friend, Yamato? You leave him behind with no regard to his own wants? But then again, this is so typical of you."

"We were never friends, Shinji." Yamato told the young man as he twisted away from him. "The only thing you ever cared about was yourself. Your ethics sucked and your songs were worse! That's why we kicked you out!"

"Sh-shut up! You're no better than me, you santimonious bastard!" Shinji's eyes had taken on a manic expression, giving the teenager the appearance of a madman. "You were jealous of my talents! Just ask the others... Or better yet, that red-haired girlfriend of yours."

"Leave Sora out of this." Yamato told him, his blue eyes narrowing into slits.

"Think about it." Shinji continued, feeling confident that he struck a nerve. "You two were never truly serious the whole time we were in the band. Ever wonder why? Could it be that she wised up and saw you for what you are: a self-serving jerk who uses people like an old tissue?"

"That's enough!" Yamato shouted, tackling the young man to the floor of the stage. Before either young man could do anything to the other, the sound of an explosion rippled across the coliseum. Yamato looked in horror as he saw a beaten and charred Gabumon slam into the front of the stage with a sickening thud.

"Gabumon!" Yamato shouted as he leapt down to his Digimon partner, ignoring the twisted smile that curled Shinji's lips.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Shinji told the Chosen of Friendship. "All of your codescending, your ARROGANCE, and what had it earned you? Look at you, so afraid of being exposed as the selfish jerk you are, you pretend to care about the one thing that couldn't abandon you. Truely pathetic."

"Shut your fucking mouth, Shinji!" Yamato retorted as he turned his attention back to his wounded partner, ignoring the fact that there may have been a small amount of truth to the rant.

"Don't listen to him, Matt." Gabumon rasped weakly. "You're... You're not that way anymore. You're a... A great friend. Just ask Tai... And TK."

Yamato's features softened at the mention of his still-missing brother and his friend, remembering how much was at stake if they didn't get out soon. He then noticed wisps of smoke emerging from Gabumon's fur...

No. Not smoke.

He was bleeding data.

"Stay with me, Gabumon!" Yamato said, trying to figure out how to keep his friend from dying. The Rookie-level Digimon raised a shaky paw to his friend, already feeling himself begin to slip away.

"Matt... You're my best... Friend... I'm proud of you..." Gabumon gasped as he felt his body seize, unable to hear his friend's outcry of grief as he slowly decompiled into data.

"GABUMON!!!" Yamato shouted as he watched his friend disappear into a cloud of data before his eyes. He suddenly knew what TK and Tai felt, the helplessness of watching their closest companion and partner slip away. He then heard the sound of Shinji laughing behind him, unsympathetic in the slightest degree.

"You know, it was almost a shame." Shinji said as he caught his breath between laughs. "Now BlackOmnimon will be bored to tears again. But when you abuse your friendship with others, it eventually comes back to haunt you." He looked to see BlackOmnimon return, the Mega Digimon's sword ready to strike once more. He was about to give the order to kill Yamato when he heard a newfound laugh. It was coming from the blond Chosen Child of Friendship.

"Friendship?" Yamato said darkly as he turned towards the former band member, his eyes hidden under the shadows cast by his hair. "What the fuck do you know about having friends? You don't what it means YET, Shinji. You're nothing but a selfish, spoiled bratty asshole who wants everything his way. And when you don't get it, you cry like a little baby."

"Shut up!" Shinji almost screamed at him. How dare he talk that way to him. This was HIS crowning moment of revenge and he was talking down to him STILL?!? This would NOT do. Suddenly, he saw Yamato erupt in a storm of blue light, his digivice screaming as the LCD screen shattered from the power overload.

"What the..." Yamato exclaimed as he suddenly felt calmer than he's ever been. He then realized the reason why as he felt his body begin to change. Gabumon was still with him.

"Gabumon, burst digivolve to... NinjaGarurumon!"

The coliseum started to fill with a strange fog as the light and sound faded, making Shinji nervously look around. Yamato had vanished in the midst of it all but he wouldn't be denied his revenge.

"BlackOmnimon, scan the area and find Yamato Ishida." Shinji ordered. He then heard the familiar sound of a wolf's howl in the distance, seeming to come from all directions.

"Looking for something, Shinji?" A voice said from out of nowhere. "Instead of worrying about finding it, I'd worry more about your Digimon partner."

"What the..." Shinji managed before a black and blue blur raced out of the shadows and hit BlackOmnimon, knocking him back a little.

"Hold on." The former Royal Knight said as he glanced around for the intruder. "You should at least show yourself. There is no honor in attacking when your opponent is caught off-guard." He was rewarded by a barrage from the same mysterious blur, slamming into him over and over until he toppled over. He and Shinji finally saw the intruder as he swooped down before them. His face and body were covered in grey ninjitsu garments striped with blue in various places, his torso being the exception as it was covered by a onyx-colored breastplate. The arms and legs were also protected with the same dark metal, the crest of Friendship emblazoned on the brestplate.

"You've done some serious damage today, Shinji." The newcomer named NinjaGarurumon said in a gruff voice that was an odd mixture of Yamato and MetalGarurumon. "You're going to learn the true meaning of honor and friendship the hard way, because I will show you no mercy!"

"BlackOmnimon, s-stop him!" Shinji commanded the former Royal Knight, growing somewhat nervous from the cold stare the mysterious new arrival was giving him from under his cowl. "D-don't let him near me!"

"Y... yes, master." BlackOmnimon muttered as he rose, summoning his strength as he looked around for his challenger only to see that he had vanished into the shadows once more. It had been a long time since any Digimon could elude him like this. His honor was on the line now.

"Face me, coward!" BlackOmnimon called out as he readied his Transcendant Sword and Supreme Cannon. "You cannot hide forever!"

"I don't have to." The gruff voice of NinjaGarurumon replied as he leapt out of the shadows again, this time landing a perfect roundhouse kick to the helmet of the large Mega Digimon. He then produced several glowing throwing stars from under the sleeves of his garments.

"Garuru Stunner!" NinjaGarurumon shouted as he threw the stars, letting them explode in a barrage that damaged BlackOmnimon's armor. The Hybrid-type then cross his arms in a jujitsu pattern, his body surrounded by an ice-blue flame, preparing the attack that would end the battle.

"Howling Spirit Claw!" he shouted as the flame shot forward in the image of Garurumon, erupting in an explosion of fire around BlackOmnimon. The large Mega roared in pain as the fire burned him inside and out, causing him to de-digivolve into the form of an unconscious Mushroomon.

"This... this can't be..." Shinji managed to blurt out as he raced from the stage and toward his fallen partner. "My partner... defeated by... defeated?" He then began to laugh at the irony, small chuckles followed by a string of hysterical sounds that almost parodied a laugh. He clutched his digivice as he looked back at NinjaGarurumon. He would NOT steal his revenge from him.

"We'll meet again, Yamato." Shinji said, a maniacal look setting into his eyes along with a twisted grin. With a tap of a button on the digivice, both he and his Mushroomon disappeared into a sphere of data. Before NinjaGarurumon had time to react, the ground and walls began to shake violently shake.

"Dammit!" the Hybrid cursed as he used his reflexes to twist and dodge out of the way of various debris. "A cave-in!" He raced back through the hole in the wall made by MetalTyrannomon, using his canine senses to leap and dodge his way through until he finally found the exit. With a mighty leap, he pushed himself though just as the remainder of the passage collapsed behind him. The warm sunlight greeted him as he stopped to look around at his enviroment, seeing that he was in a forest area. At least it seemed he was still in the Digital World. That meant...

"Hold on, guys." NinjaGarurumon said to himself as he started racing through the area along the trees that littered the area. "I'm on my way..."

(End Part 10)


	11. Part 11 SNEAK PREVIEW

Part 11 (SNEAK PREVIEW)

Author's Note: Izzy is the focus for this chapter and there will be some backstory finally introduced. Also, a new character is introduced.

The imposing figure of Anubismon looked out over the city that stretched before him, pleased to see everything proceeding on schedule. The powerful Mega Digimon was every bit as fear-inspiring as his Egyptian namesake, some calling him "the jackle of death" because of his reputation. The area known as Desktop City would have been his by now if not for the efforts of a certain guardian. A guardian named Gennai.

Anubismon growled to himself as he remembered the misery the old man had caused him and his army. A former member of an ancient order entrusted to protect the Digital World, those inspired by his loyalty to the Digital Gods had become a thorn in his side. He always seemed to be ahead of him, each planning one move against the other like a living chess match. It was becoming irritating to no end. That AND that annoying little brat of his...

"Master Anubismon." He turned at the sound of Yashamon, one of his best generals. "Sir, we have detected a new digital signature from the city. It may be another Chosen Child."

"I see." The powerful Digimon spoke. "It would seem that Lord Neo was correct after all."

"Shall we attack, sir? We would still have the advantage since there is only one other."

"No, not yet." Anubismon instructed. "For now, we wait. Gennai will reveal his plans in time. Then, and only then, will we make our move against him." With that, he turned his attention back to the domed city, a smirk growing on his muzzle as he comtemplated what fate would befall his foe.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Koushiro bolted upright in shock as he snapped back to consciousness, his body feeling as if tiny electric pinpricks had settled on his skin. A curious feeling, yes, but his immediate attention was to where he was. He remembered being surrounded by a stream of light as he watched Tentomon...

"Tentomon?" Koushiro called as he rose from the impromtu bed that he had been laid upon. A light wave of vertigo assaulted the Child of Knowledge, causing him to sit back down as he allowed hia body to calm down. Yet there was no response from the bug-like Digimon.

'I wonder where Tentomon is.' Koushiro thought to himself. 'Hopefully we have not been separated during this venture.' The red-haired Child of Knowledge suddenly recalled his experience with Vadermon nearly a decade before, his memories and ability to think slowly stripped away by the Ultimate-level. Somehow, this seemed vaguely familiar.

"Izzy!" the familiar upbeat voice of his partner said as the Child of Knowledge turned and saw the insectoid creature standing in an open doorway. "I was starting to worry you wouldn't wake up."

"I'm fine, Tentomon, but where are we?" Koushiro asked. "My last memory was being caught in a beam of light and pulled away from the others."

"I don't know but I do know who can answer that question." Tentomon led his partner into the adjacent chamber, Koushiro's eyes slowly readjusting to the much brighter environment as they moved. The red-haired young man took note of the architecture as they walked through the corridor, various imagery of different Digimon along the otherwise smooth stone walls.

'Something about this place feels oddly familiar...' Koushiro noted mentally. It was then that in spite of the unfamiliar voices met his ears as they entered the main chamber, there was one that was all too familiar:

"We have already tried the other alternatives. There is no more time. If we delay any longer, Anubismon will eventually gain his way inside the city. We must act immediately."

"Settle down. I understand your concerns, Ami, but we have no choice."

'That almost sounds like...' Koushiro reasoned to himself as they entered the chamber, a smile of relief spreading across his face as he recognized a familiar face in the room. One of the speakers was a much older-appearing Gennai.

"Ah, I see you're finally up, Izzy." Gennai said to the Child of Knowledge. "You must have gotten my message, then. Ah, well. Better late than never, I suppose."

"What is this place, Gennai?" Koushiro asked as he approached with Tentomon, a look of relief across his youthful face. "Did any of the others arrive as well? Why haven't we been able to contact you in so long?"

"Still the ever-inquiring mind, I see." the elder member of the Order noted with a chuckle, a small smile across his worn features. "Well, since you came all this way, I should make some introductions." He then gestured to a young blue-haired woman leaning against a wall, her arms folded and an impatient look on her face. "This is Ami, a Digidestined like yourself."

"I should mention that she is the one who found us and brought us here." Tentomon added, seeing a spark of interest briefly glimmer in Koushiro's eyes.

"Prodigious!" Koushiro said enthusiastically as he extended his hand to her. "It would be beneficial if we had another DigiDestined to help us against Neo."

The blue-haired woman studied the gesture as her steel-blue eyes met the red-haired Child of Knowledge's own, a look of faint recognition crossing her features briefly before dismissing the feeling. There was something familiar in those eyes, almost like a dream out of reach...

'Impossible.' Ami thought as she cautiously took Koushiro's hand. 'I've only met him. Feeling deja vu towards him would be... illogical.' She then turned her attention to a large insectoid creature sitting above them on a stone rafter, it's multi-faceted eyes studying them with a subtle sense of curiosity. The light gleamed off of her polished exoskeleton armor as it leaped to the ground in front of them, a slight buzzing from its thin wings as it acknowledged the young woman.

"ShineBeemon." Ami addressed the taller insect Digimon. "We are needed on a recon mission. Are you ready?"

"Yes." the reply came from the female Digimon. With that, the two of them prepared to leave on their patrol of the outskirts of Desktop, leaving the two holders of Knowledge and the elderly Order member as the sole occupants of the chamber.

"I've gotta say that was one impressive Digimon, if you know what I mean." Tentomon piped up knowingly.

"Tentomon, that isn't nice." Koushiro warned his partner. A small chuckle erupted from Gennai but soon became a hacking cough. The duo went to the elderly-appearing avatar, a sign of worry on the red-haired young man's face. He had always considered Gennai a mentor in many way, his advice and various e-mails through the years helping to expand his own knowledge of the Digital World and Digimon as a whole. Surely someone like his couldn't be affected THIS badly by Neo's machinations... could they?

"I'm fine, Izzy." Gennai told him with a small nod of reassurance. "It seems, though, that not even a prophecy's fallacies can keep you all from trying to help this world."

"What are you talking about, Gennai?"

"You'd better sit down, Izzy." The elderly avatar told him with an almost-hacking cough. "I think it's time to tell you the secret history of the Digital World."

================

To Be Continued... 


End file.
